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successors. Even the shorter speeches are productions of more than ordinary ability; and are marked by good taste, simplicity, and directness, and by a just appreciation of the special demands of time and place.

Perhaps the most striking and eloquent piece in the collection is the address delivered at the inauguration of the statue of Franklin in Boston, on the 17th of September, 1856. On more than one previous occasion, Mr. Winthrop had spoken, in terms of warm eulogy, of the character and services of "the Great Bostonian ;" and it is to a suggestion in his lecture on Archimedes and Franklin, before the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, in November, 1853, that the city of Boston is indebted for the fine statue of Franklin now in front of the City Hall. The inauguration of this statue was made the occasion of a general tribute to the memory of Franklin, by the citizens and municipal authorities of his birthplace; and Mr. Winthrop was very properly invited to deliver the principal address. The oration which he pronounced in accordance with this request is one of the best productions of its class, and presents a careful and discriminating portraiture of Franklin's character, viewed under the fourfold aspect of a mechanic, a philosopher, a statesman, and an ambassador. With the skill of a consummate artist thoroughly interested in his work, Mr. Winthrop seizes upon the salient events in each period of Franklin's crowded career; and, blending them all in a rapid and harmonious narrative, traces that career from its humble beginning to its conspicuous close, dwelling on those incidents only which are best adapted to illustrate the real greatness of Franklin. As a sketch of his life and character, there is nothing, so far as we know, within the same number of pages, which can be compared with it for brilliancy and power; and, if Mr. Winthrop had done nothing else, this address would be enough to establish his place among our most accomplished orators. It is a more durable monument than the most skilfully fashioned bronze, and is alike honorable to the orator and to the subject of his eulogy.

Next in interest and importance to this address we are inclined to put the admirable and scholarly discourse on "The Obligations and Responsibilities of Educated Men in the use of the Tongue and of the Pen," delivered before the Alumni of Harvard College, in 1852. In this discourse Mr. Winthrop justly maintains, that," when false sentiments and mischievous notions prevail on any subject," it is the educated men in the community who, "in their various avocations

and professions, are mainly responsible for their existence. They are responsible for what they say, and for what they leave unsaid; for opinions which they take part in establishing, and for opinions which they take no part in overthrowing." In proceeding to illustrate and enforce this thesis, he pauses for a moment to consider what an immense increase of power the spoken and the written word have gained by modern inventions and modern institutions, when compared with the limited "means which the ancients enjoyed for instructing, controlling, and marshalling" public opinion; and, after speaking at length of the added responsibilities which these changes impose on the educated men of the present age, closes with an earnest appeal to his hearers to do something to advance the interests and extend the reputation of the college to which they owed so much.

Scarcely inferior in ability to this address, and characterized by the same high tone, is the address before the Young Men's Christian Association of Boston, April 7th, 1859, entitled "Christianity, neither sectarian nor sectional, the great Remedy for Social and Political Evils." Written in the interest of no sect or denomination, it sets forth, in strong, clear, and manly terms, the need of " more true Christian spirit, principle, and motive in all the various affairs, transactions, and enterprises of the world we live in," in religion, morals, business, politics, and the various social amusements. On all these points, Mr. Winthrop speaks wisely and well, and with the impressiveness of thorough conviction.

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Similar in its general tone and character, and equally deserving of high praise, is the address on "Luxury and the Fine Arts, in some of their Moral and Historical Relations," first delivered in Baltimore, in May, 1859, before the Young Men's Christian Association, and afterward repeated in Boston, in aid of a fund for the erection of an equestrian statue of Washington. It is a rather discursive, but striking and eloquent, discussion of the effects of luxurious tastes and habits on the individual and the community; closing with an exhaustive consideration of the question, "Whether our own land and our own condition of society do not afford ample opportunity for the enjoyment and encouragement of the fine arts, without danger to liberty, and without just liability to the charge of furthering and fostering a pernicious and poisonous luxury?"

Of the remaining addresses, perhaps the best is the interesting his

torical sketch of the progress of musical taste and education in New England, delivered at the opening of the Musical Festival in Boston, in May, 1857.

C. C. S.

THE MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY is the oldest of our historical societies; and, from the first, it has done its full share in promoting the objects for which it was incorporated. The thirty-seven volumes of its Collections, and the seven volumes of its Proceedings, have been compiled with rare judgment; and together they form a reference library, to which every student of our earlier or later annals must have frequent and satisfactory recourse. The most recent volume bearing the imprint of the Society comprises the Proceedings from January, 1866, to April, 1867;* and, like several of the later volumes, has been mainly edited by Mr. Charles Deane, one of the ablest and best known of our American antiquaries. Beside the record of the monthly meetings, and of the special meeting held in commemoration of Mr. Sparks, the volume contains several papers of much interest and value. First among these in the order of publication is an able, elaborate, and well-considered essay, by Professor Parker, on "The Origin, Organization, and Influence of the Towns of New England," written with great clearness and force, and exhibiting much careful research. Next in order is a "Memoir of President Quincy," by the Rev. Dr. Walker, covering nearly seventy-five pages, and presenting a most admirable sketch of the life and character of that remarkable man. Lucid in statement and dispassionate in tone, it is characterized throughout by that calm, practical wisdom which is found in every production of Dr. Walker's pen, and is in all respects a model biography. Another paper of more than ordinary interest is Mr. Amory's "Vindication of General Sullivan from the Misrepresentations of Mr. Bancroft, in the ninth volume of his History of the United States; " and there is also an interesting paper on "The Early Painters and Engravers of New England," by Mr. W. H. Whitmore. The volume also contains a reprint of Wheelwright's famous "Fast-day Sermon," preached in 1636; "Bacon's and Ingram's Proceedings;" and several other documents, of scarcely inferior interest. As a whole, it is one of the best and most interesting of the miscellaneous volumes published by the Society. C. C. S.

* Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 1866-1867. Published at the charge of the Peabody Fund. Boston: Published for the Society, by

Wiggin & Lunt. 1867. 8vo, pp. 524.

MISCELLANEOUS.

*

- past,

SLAVERY is dead, to begin with. So might some American Dickens begin a new "Carol," and summon the spirits of freedom present, and future - to tell the story of what might have been, what is, and what may be, the lot of our Southern freedmen. That there is no doubt about the death of slavery, is clear enough; since, otherwise, how account for the appearance of its ghost, which rises before us in such books as the volume of "Slave Songs"? Probably, Professor Allen would disclaim the rôle we have thus assigned him, and deny that the ghostly presence comes at his bidding. But it is there, nevertheless; and few persons will take up these Songs without soon feeling, that they are not only learning the hymns and tunes which these people sang, but are also reading the "crushed hopes, keen sorrow, and dull, daily misery which covered them as hopelessly as the fog from the rice swamps." The negro "Spirituals," or "Shout Songs," brought together in the volume before us, show the utter worthlessness of the slaveholders' plea, that the blacks, though wisely kept in ignorance respecting "secular" knowledge, were yet instructed in religion, and had the gospel preached to them. What sort of a religion slavery taught, and what this Southern gospel was, has never been revealed so clearly as in these "Slave Songs," — the fossil remains of the slave-epoch in our national history. One is inclined, at first, to smile, upon meeting with many of the words and phrases with which these songs abound. It is hard to recognize the reverence of the Hebrew, "O Jehovah!" in the negro's "Jehoviah, hallelujah ;" and we can hardly help laughing, in comparing the sublime opening of the twenty-third psalm, with the ridiculous translation in the "Sperichils" of "De Lord is perwide." The meaningless refrain, so common in the shout songs of " Roll, Jordan," reminds us of the comic, rather than the sacred, poem concerning that ancient stream; while the Scriptural quotations and allusions make such ludicrous patchwork, as almost to destroy the real pathos of many of their peculiar versions and idioms. But the impression, on the whole, which these songs leave on the mind, is one of sadness, and not of mirth; and the description which the woman "Molsy" gives in the preface of her sister's experience in searching for religion, may be

* Slave Songs of the United States. New York: A. Simpson & Co., 1867. VOL. LXXXIV. - NEW SERIES, VOL. V. NO. I. 11

applied to the slaves as a class: "Couldn't fin' dat leetle ting-hunt for 'em huntin' all de time."

Merely to describe the book, belongs to the department of advertising; and criticism finds little scope in so unique a production as this.* Its value as a contribution to musical literature, is certainly very great. Not that we should like to see Mrs. Kemble's suggestion carried out, and the "fortune of an opera" made by the "skilful adaptation" of these melodies. The "Shout Songs" of the American freedmen will take their own place, as most original and unique specimens of what, for want of a more exact phrase, we must term ballad music. Too fragmentary to be called ballads in the ordinary meaning of that word, they are yet genuine products of what, if we were Germans and theologians, we might call the ballad-making consciousness. For confirmation of this view of the "Sperichils," we refer the reader to page xvii. of Professor Allen's preface, where the method of their composition is discussed. It is difficult for a reviewer to add much to the valuable explanations which this preface contains, or indeed to offer any criticism on the book itself. We were struck, when at Port Royal, with the peculiar mode of beating time in the "shout," of which we find no mention in this work. Instead of clapping the hands in unison with the accented parts of the measure, the singers uniformly beat the time in syncopation; i.e. striking the hands together immediately after the accented notes were sung.

H. G. S.

MR. TUCKERMAN's crowded and valuable book † presents a multitude of attractions for the large class who are interested in the subject which

the following memoranda from a private note:

* We copy "The words in the succession of verses of No's. 17 and 19, are quite characteristic. Those of 17, I arranged with some care. 26 I think remarkably sweet, and no doubt it is genuine. 29 is very odd. 33 is characteristic; also 47. 48 is especially worth noticing. The wide range, geographical and in variations, of 93 (45) and 22 (100) is very interesting. Very interesting pieces are also 10, 38, 74, 75, 82, 87, 89, 98, 102, 112; and all the Tennessee and Louisiana ones, particularly 132 and 133. I wish the book were more handsomely got up: it was hurried, and then printed on inferior paper, so as to make the price less than announced, — I think, a mistake."

† Book of the Artists: American Artist Life, comprising Biographical and Critical sketches of American Artists; preceded by an Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of Art in America. By HENRY T. TUCKERMAN. With an Appendix containing an Account of Notable Pictures and Private Collections. Royal 8vo, p. 639. New York: G. P. Putnam & Son, 1867.

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