to learn that a medal had been struck, commemorative of the first contribution made by the United States to the maritime discoveries of the world. We were convinced that all commercial nations would do justice to the services rendered to navigation by this expedition; and were much gratified to find, in the report on the synopsis of this voyage, made by a committee of the French Geographical Society, in which the question of priority of discovery of the Antarctic continent is fairly treated, these expressions:

"If, as there is every reason to believe, these scientific observations and surveys are as correct as they are extensive, it must be allowed that this expedition is, without doubt, one of the most important ever undertaken for the advancement of the sciences, and the United States will have entered into this career, in a manner calculated to excite the emulation of the great nations of the world."

And again, in awarding their great medal to Capt. James Ross, for his discoveries in the Antarctic, and on account of his having attained the highest southern latitude, the committee of this same society say:

"In proposing to award the prize to Capt. Ross, we at the same time acknowledge and loudly proclaim the merit of Lieut. Wilkes's discoveries and important observations."

We will briefly recapitulate what these observations were, which have attracted the attention of the scientific men of other countries. During the whole period of this long cruise, magnetic observations were made at every important station, and the instruments were disembarked on the islands whenever a favorable opportunity was found; even on the ice islands of the Antarctic, in order to observe the dip and intensity. The pendulum was swung at six stations, one being on the summit of Mouna Loa, and another at the base of that mountain. Elaborate meteorological journals were kept, with great exactness, during the whole period of the expedition, and all the phenomena of the heavens accurately noted. The temperature of the ocean, at different depths, was frequently tried, with singular and important results. The set of the currents of the ocean, especially along the coasts visited by the expedition, were determined. The hydrographic labours were immense, and the new charts of the seas traversed by our vessels, specimens of which we have before us in the Atlas which accompanies these volumes, will be extremely useful to our navigation. We have seen

and examined the collections, in every branch of natural history, brought home by the expedition, and were surprised at the number and value of the specimens, evincing great industry and activity, as well as scientific research, on the part of those who were charged with this duty. The contributions to Philology, are highly interesting and important.

We are happy to learn that this work is to be re-published, in five volumes, octavo, by Messrs. Lea & Blanchard, of Philadelphia, to be embellished with the same engravings, and to be accompanied by the same atlas, as the quarto edition now before us, published by order of Congress. We hope it will be widely circulated and generally read.

ART. II.-The Works of Washington Irving. In two volumes. Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard. 1840.

THERE is no name in the youthful history of our country, which does, or should, occupy a higher place, than that of Washington Irving,-who, more fortunate than most of the author-craft, has had the laurel-wreath twined around his living brow. The spectacle of an author,-one whose celebrity is owing, not to stump-speeches or political pilgrimages, but solely to his pen,-occupying a high and responsible public station, is as honorable to our national character, as it is inspiring to the votaries of thought. It is a profound and sagacious policy, on the part of any government, to foster and encourage native talent,-not alone that which is conversant with its immediate interests, but also that which indirectly tends to enlighten the mass,-to aid and encourage its speculative as well as political writers, whose influence, though less seen, is probably more deeply felt. It is a policy to which France owes much of her greatness,-as witness her Thiers and Guizot, elevated from humble journalists to the guidance of her political fortunes. And even in aristocratic England, where the value of a man was once estimated by the number of useless ancestors he could boast, "the tenth transmitters of foolish faces" are now thrust aside by the energetic Broughams and Lyndhursts, whose patents of nobility come direct from their Creator.

We regard, then, the unsought promotion of Mr. Irving, from his quiet residence on the banks of the Hudson, the charms of whose scenery have been enhanced by his genius, to represent his country at the proud old court of Spain, as far more honorable to his government and himself, under the circumstances which it was given, than if it had been purchased by those sacrifices of personal dignity and moral honesty, which public life too often demands as the price of successful partisanship; considering it, as we do, in the light of a tribute paid, in his person, to the claims and value of American literature, as yet in its infancy, but destined, "under God's good providence," to grow up into a vigorous and majestic manhood.

But these speculations are leading us far away from our present task, which is simply to pay a feeble tribute of gratitude to one of the noblest pioneers of our literature, whose name heads this article,-Washington Irving; a name dear to every true-hearted American,-which the foul finger of detraction has never dared to soil with its touch; for, long as Mr. Irving has been before the public as an author, and numerous and varied as have been his works, we do not remember (with one trifling exception to which we shall recur) of ever having met with any hostile criticism directed against him, either as a man or an author,—a case as rare as it is honorable to the subject of it.

The sole attack we have seen, was one made through the columns of the Southern Literary Messenger, of Virginia, wherein Mr. Irving was charged with having appropriated, without acknowledgment, for his "Life of Columbus," materials collated by Senor Navarette, and published by him in the Spanish language, to which documents Mr. Irving had access in the library at Madrid. This attack was made, with some virulence of language, about three years ago; but the proofs produced by the assailant to sustain his charge, were by no means weighty or satisfactory, the strongest being an extract from a newspaper published at Madrid, whence the charge was evidently taken, and the rest of so flimsy a character, as to convince no one whose mind was not already made up on the subject. Mr. Irving himself did not appear to regard the charge as worthy of his attention, and the distinguished manner with which he has been received by the literary men of Spain, since his return to that country, should, of itself, suffice to put this charge at rest forever.

The personal character of Mr. Irving is above the shadow of reproach. His life has been as pure and faultless as his style, which is the highest compliment we can pay him ;and, in the evening of his days, in his peaceful and quiet retreat on the banks of his beautiful and beloved Hudson, he may calmly and confidently look back upon a well-spent and useful life, embalmed in the memories of his grateful countrymen, with no unpleasant recollections associated with his name, unless the fairer portion of creation consider themselves aggrieved by his obstinate adherence to the state of single blessedness; yet even they should make allowances for the difficulty an author must ever experience in meeting his ideal in actual life. That Mr. Irving entertains that exalted opinion of the fair sex, which all sensible men must, is evidenced by the portraitures of female character drawn by his hand, in the Sketch Book and Bracebridge Hall, many of which, for delicacy of feeling and beauty of conception, have never been surpassed.-forcibly reminding us of those kindred pictures of female purity and loveliness, in the "Lights and Shadows of Scottish Life," by his great rival, Professor Wilson, of Edinburg,-with whose genius his own has much in common, and who alone disputes with him his own domain of flowing narrative and melting pathos. Having thus disposed of this grave charge against Mr. Irving's good taste as a man, we now proceed to the consideration of his merits as an author.

We do not propose entering into an elaborate catalogue and exposition of Mr. Irving's works, for they are too gener. ally and familiarly known to the reading public, to render such a labor necessary; but merely desire to exhibit the real service he has performed for our literature, and incidentally to point out some of the more marked peculiarities of his genius, a genius as original and varied as it is striking and peculiar.

To Washington Irving must be conceded the high honor of having originated what our friend Judge Meek forcibly terms "Americanism in Literature." He was among the first, if not the very first, of our native writers, to spurn the liter ary dictation of the British critics; and, in Salmagundi, (in which Mr. Paulding was his coadjutor,) the declaration of our literary independence was first boldly proclaimed, and the lash of ridicule applied to the shoulders of the Cockney tourists, whose insolence was only equalled by their igno

rance, and who repaid the generous hospitality of their liberal entertainers, with foul-mouthed ribaldry and slander. In his portraits of "Sblidikens-flash," "Straddle" and "Snivers," he avenged the slanders of these puny libellers, and held up the class to which they belonged to merited derision and

scorn.

Yet this was but one form of this Protean English interference. It had other and more dangerous ones. Its influence was felt in the formation of our literature, which bade fair to become only a shadow reflected from that of Great Britain, although the political bonds which had connected the two countries had been violently rent asunder, and, politically, we were free of England; yet, in literature, the mind of the country was in a state of colonial vassalage to that of Great Britain. Our authors servilely adopted English models for their imitation, and, as all imitations necessarily must, fell far below their originals; since there is something cold, forced and feeble in all copyists, induced by the prostration of intellect before an acknowledged superior.

Such was the case with our early writers. Introducing into their works English scenery and English associations, they rendered that which was appropriate in the original, absurd in the copy, from its total incongruity. The English poet might consistently introduce into his verses the hawthorn hedges and nightingales of his home, for these things were identified with the rural associations of his countrymen; but to the rough backwoodsman, to whom the American copyist addressed his verses, these things were as unfamiliar as the banyan-trees of India. The public taste nauseated at these absurd and incongruous copies of distant and uncongenial topics, and our native literature languished in sickly and ricketty childhood, uncared for, and unsympathised with, by the great mass of the people.

That this was the fault of the authors, not of the public, is demonstrated by the unexampled popularity of Salmagundi when first issued, and the spirit of national pride which it awakened; for we regard that little production,-ephemeral in its design and character, as it may have appeared to the solemn wise-acres of that day, who could not separate solemnity from wisdom,-as the first herald of that intellectual dawn which has already brightened into such a glorious day; for it opened the eyes of the many to their mental thraldom, and proved the existence of those sparks of hidden