New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-12-30

efforts of his intellect deN o.ed to its euedation
His treatise on the Freedom of the Will BY which
he is chiefly known to the recent world is an ingen
Gus attempt to make that reasonable which, not
through his reason. he had himself received To
reconcile the orthodox tenets with the facts Of nature
and the reason OF i the task at which the brain
of Nev-England grew large and tke chest narrow.
OF those who have lived and died in that voc alton
the greatest and the beet was Jonathan Edwards.
The Edwards stock IL famous in New-England
The remotet known ancestor of the London
clergyman ~ the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Three
generations 81 worthy, substantial persons. his de-
scendsnts lived in Connecticut. From Jonathan Ed
wards surprising number OF nGuishe indi idual
have descended: Of worth talent and station:
women, beautiful, accomplished aud gifted. Histories
Of the nited States have been written IN which his
name does not occur; but upon every person reared
since hs day IN New En- gland he has made discern
lille impre aud he influences to this hour millions
who never J. sd .is name. The thing he chiefly did
in bis fe W., this: the church and the world. two
hostile bodies. were beginning, as II were. 10 re,ent
toward another 10 approach, TO minge. Jonathan
Edwards with his subtle, feminine intellect and reso
lutte will threw himself between the bodies kept them
apart made more distinct than the line Of densF
ka,on and rendered compromise between the two
perhaps, for ever impossible.
such was the father OF Aaron Burr mother
The manner in which Mr.. Parton has discharged
the duties of bographer in the composition OF this
| work demands cordial and emphatic recognition.
Every page bears the marks OF indeatigabe labor.
1t was no small chaos of materials which he under
| took TO reduce TO historic order. and ne has per-
formed his task with the zeal of an sntiqnsry and
| the taste Of IN artist. The rksome details of po
litica strife have been carefully sed and a certain
fne ytaliziDg % MUS has given animation and har-
| mony q the mass. The author is clearly no devo-
| tee of conventional rules-his remarks are often
| Favored with pungent spice of audacIty-he ac-
| knowledges no allegiance to current opinions or
principles Of taste But his honesty Of purpose is
no less conspicuous than his originality of express
F. sion and Illustration. His power Of grouping incl
dents and persons with picturesque effect FREEDOM
mates in his descriptions. He exhibits an occa-
sona verbal carelessness especially ia his render
ing of proper names, but this is amply atoned tor
BY the prevailing truthfulness of his thought and
| the yigor and yiyacity of his style. He certain!
possesses a rare talent for biographical deneation,
and we hope to meet him often in this department
| of letters.
1HE ATLANTIC ,Mo s,n.;1 c re"'''y
In this number, greeting OF nteWgen' anu oo'u''
| u.loo,ne j. offended tho great work OF AgaSsH
oa.s,I entitled Contributions to the Natural His
tory Of the United States a service the more appro-
pirate on account Of the purely scientific character OF
the work, which places il beyond the reach of unpo'
fessional literary criticism. According to the writer
| Of this paper Mr. Agassiz has commenced Zone OF
| the monumental labors OF our century. the ike OF
| which, in the way OF systematic natural science mas
| not been witnessed on the Western Continent. No
naturalist sine CuNier has attempted such an Immense
task with the same powers Of observation. analysis
| and reflection "We do not assume to say, says ne
reviewer where in the category of fully equipped m
telgences Mr.. Agassiz belongs. But If the union OF
| the most extraordinary observing powers with on
| almost poetic perception OF snalogies, with VIDE
compass thought, the classifying instinct and habit,
large knowledge of books and personal intimacy with
the leaders in various departments of knowledge, and
with this the upward-looking aspect of mind ana heart
which is the GROWING Gift of a-ifthe union OF these
qualities can give to the man Of science claim to the
nobler name of wisdom, it ia not iaery but justice 10
| award this distinction to Mr.. Agassz." Another
noteworthy article in this number il essay on
| Books" in which certain subtle determinations are
expressed in spirit Of wsest oensure, giving the
essence OF deep experience among the dumb inon.
tors of the past in few quaint and gem-ke aphcr'
| isms. We extract portion from the close:
There i, no room left-and yet might a. well not
have begun az 10 leave out class of books which are
the best | mean the Bibles of the world or the "a.
cred books each nation, express ior
supreme result Of their experience. After the Hebrew
and Greek Scriptures, which constitute the sacred
books ~ Chrisendom, these are, the Desar OF the
Ptrsians and the ZOroastran Oracles they edas ana
Laws of Menu; the Cpanishads, the Nl,hnu Purans,
the Bhacyat Geeta Of the Hindoos the books of the
Buddhists: the Chinese Classics, OF four books,
containing the wisdom of Confucus and Menclus.
Also such other books have acquired semicanon-
cal authority in the world a. expressing the hghest
sentiment and hope of nations. SUCH are me
! Hormes Tr.megistus, pretending to be Egyptian
remains; the - Sentences of Epictetls; OF Marcus
| Antoninus; the "Nishnu Sarma OF the Hndooi
The " Christian of Saadi; the Imitation of Christ.
of Thomas Kemps; and the Thoughts OF Pas
cal All these books the majestic expressions OF
the universal conscience, and are more 10 our daly
purpose than this year almanac OF ms ia! nt"s
paper But they for the closet ana 10 De READ on
the Blended knee. Their communications are not Ia
be- given or taken with the lips and the end Oh the
tongue, but ont OF the glow OF me cheek ana Win ,
take solitude and time brood and ripen, heroes alb
sorb and enact them. They are no to be held by let
ters printed page, but are h'irg characters trans
lated into every tongue and form d life. read them
on lchens and bark watch then on wave. ON the
beach: they hy in birds. they creep n worms; de-
tect them in laughter and bushes and eye-sparkles OF
men and women. These are Scriptures Thca ths
missionary might well carry over prarie, desert ana
ocean 10 Siberia Japan. Tmbucioo. Yet he Will md
that the spirit which l. IN them journeys iaster that
he and greets him on hs arriva!-was there already
long before him. The missionary must De carried U!
IT, and fud there he goes in vain Il there an!
geography in these thing We call them As'atle'
We cali them primeva; but perhaps that Il only opti-
call for Nature j. always equal to herset and there
are as good pars Of eyes and eas now IN the planet
s ever were Only these ejacula ons OF the soul are
uttered one a few - time, AZ eng intervals, ana
il takes millennium % maze a Bit!e
The articles on duty rank sui file present pop
ulsr variety, and among them NAY be mentioned a |
b,i,k Bacchanaiian song in prais Of Catawba vine
historical essay Spaocus, aw'-colored picture oil
East Indian life entitled Mamot and n weird IAN