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still an interest of another nature, attached to the memoir of M. DENIS on the introduction of tobacco into France, a memoir full of new facts and piquant historical curiosities. Hitherto we have attributed to the Nimoisien, NICOT, SIEUR DE VILLEMAIN, Ambassador of Charles IX. to Lisbon, the importation of tobacco. But the ingenious erudition of M. DENIS has satisfactorily established that the honour of having been the first to introduce into France the use of tobacco, belongs to a still more interesting personage,-we mean the Cordelier ANDRE THEVET, traveller, cosmographer, and "guardian of the singularities and curiosities of the king." To an apparently trifling subject, M. DENIS has imparted the seriousness and the attraction of a literary history.

We extract the following notice of the "Memoires d'Alexandre Dumas," from the New York Albion. Those who peruse the writings of this eminent and notorious "cullud pusson" (and who is not familiar with some of his romances), will peruse it with interest.

"Our contemporary, the Courrier des Etats Unis, has commenced the publication of this autobiography, of which a few numbers only have appeared in Paris. Cleverest of authors, and most consummate of coxcombs, Dumas will undoubtedly make a very readable book, although, with his own personal reminiscences and experiences will be mingled much historical information, not of the newest. His first few pages are filled with some rather dry proofs of his own legitimacy, and of the high respectability of his father's family; but the sketches of his father's military career in the French Revolutionary war are vivid, and at times sufficiently piquant. His affectionate son describes him as a hero of the first water. He makes a fair enough point, at page 17, where he narrates how General Dumas, being quartered at Bayonne in 1793, and occupying a house immediately opposite the place of execution, whereon the guillotine was incessantly at work, refused to appear on his balcony by way of honour to the Goddess of Liberty. The bloodthirsty mob shouted furiously for him and his staff; but they kept close, prepared to sell their lives dearly, if attacked. He was hailed as ' Monsieur de l'Humanité!-and the name stuck to him. 'Question, gentlemen, (says our Alexander) my name of Davy de la Pailleterie; but there is one, the which you cannot question-which is, that I am the son of a man who was called Horatius Cocles, in face of the enemy, and Mr. Humanity in face of the scaffold.' Some of our author's brief recapitulations of wellknown events are very striking. We shall probably, from time to time, refer to this publication, periodical it may be called, for its duration is very indefinite. Popular writers-too many of them -reckon now-a-days how much they can get per sheet, and scribble on until scribbled out."

We translate from the Courrier des Etats Unis, the following paragraph relative to the present condition of literature and journalism in France, from its Parisian correspondence. "It is rumoured that efforts will be made to restore to Literature and Art, that share of public attention, which, of late years, has been attracted by politics. It is said that degrees of the Legion d'Honneur are to be awarded to artists and authors. We are also assured that the President has taken under his patronage the entry of ALFRED DE MUSSET, to

the French Academy." With this literary patronage of Louis Napoleon, we may, however, contrast the fact that all of the greatest writers of France have been ignominiously banished; that GEORGES SAND, though residing quietly and inoffensively at a great distance from Paris, has been ordered out of France, and that not a single literary man of any true claims to merit, is a present connected with a single journal in that unfortunate country!

MUSICAL ITEMS.-From the well-selected f reign items of the New York Musical Times, we learn that JULLIEN is creating, with his monster band, a great furore at Manchester.

The serious importance attached, in France, to amusements, as a means of quieting the publ mind, is shown by a recent decision, in which i was determined by the courts of Paris, that if a manager shuts his theatre in the case of a popular emeute, he is liable for the salaries of the artss

while his theatre is closed.

M'LLE ANAIS DURAND has made a very suc cessful debut at Amiens. Her performances in Les Mousquetaires, and Les Diamans de Couronn were much applauded.

MR. HULLAH'S monthly concerts, this year will be four in number; to be held on the third Wednesdays of their respective months. The first will be given on the 21st instant. The following entire works," says the programme "will be performed in the course of the season, for the first time, at these concerts-Handel's cantata, Alexander's Feast;' Leslie's Festival Anthem, 'Let God arise;' a new cantata, Leo nora,' by Mr. Macfarren; and Mendelssohn's 'Ninety-fifth Psalm.'"

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nali, has had a complete success at Vigevano. A new opera-buffa, by TRAVERSARI, Gli Org

THALBERG is at present residing in Paris, but it is rumoured that he is coming, in the spring, t America.

M. ADOLPHE ADAM has received the cross cf the Conception, of Portugal.

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We learn that a new society, under the name of The Musical Institute, is to be formed in London, for the cultivation of music. We are, however, as a rule, by no means in favour of this adding so greatly to the number of Institutes, Clubs, Corps," or "Choirs." Much talent which would prove effective when brought together, loses its force when scattered here and there, in association with mediocrity, which detracts from its ment. We have met with an instance, in which, in a very small city, there existed not less than sever extensive rival musical associations, singly, of ne remarkable merit, but which, in union, would have won for the members a world-wide repetation.

THE TYROL and Switzerland have hithert enjoyed pre-eminence in sending forth annual bands of "brothers,” “minstrels,” and “families," bat Hungary has now entered into the field. We learn that the chief musical feature in London at the present moment, consists of a band of Hungarians-sixteen in number-in the pira resque costume of their country, who, after usvelling for some time on the Continent, have

visited England to display their remarkable abilities. "Certainly, a more interesting, and compact band of musicians, we never listened to; for, not only are their performances so perfect as to be beyond criticism, but they are so modest withal, that the listener becomes doubly charmed with all they execute. The band is composed of wind and stringed instruments, amongst whom are four tenors in F, an alto horn in C, a double bass, a violoncello (the player on which, by the way, is left-handed), and, apparently, a very sharp and peculiar clarionet. Other instruments serve to fill up the band, and the ensemble is such as to equally delight and astonish."

It is generally asserted that music affects the feelings as other arts do the intellect. The following extract is a beautiful analysis of this influence.

"The art of music, whose power has been acknowledged by the most profound thinkers of all ages, is of later growth than her sisters, Poetry, Sculpture, and Painting, and its means of communicating ideas are less positive and direct; but the principles which govern its manifestations are strictly analogous; and we recognise in its very vagueness that yearning after the infinite, that feeling for ineffable loveliness, which, defying, by the electrical rapidity of its action upon the mind, the slow deductions of reason and all human powers of analysis, approaches the Divine in its bright mystery and inexplicable influence upon our sentiments and emotions."

BERLIN. DR. RUNGENHAGEN, chiefly remembered in the musical world as having occupied the position so long and honourably held by ZELTER, the conductorship of the Sing-Academie, died lately at Berlin, at an advanced age.

ELIZA GREENFIELD, the "Black-bird," has a French rival, both in voice and complexion. At the Varieties, a piece called the "Negress of the Pacha," has been produced, in which MARIA MARTINEZ, called the "Black Malibran," made her début. She is said to be, except in colour, a perfect beauty, and a sensible, respectable woman. The piece in which she appeared was very successful.

SIGNOR VERDI is now in Paris. Thither, too, has come SIGNOR SARMIENTO, of the minor Italian maestri, with the hope of producing some of his operas. New operas by MM. CADANX, BAZIN, and GRISAR, are said to have been accepted at the Opera Comique. La Favorita, Ernani, and Sapho, have delighted the frequenters of the Opera, and the efforts of CRUVELLI and GUASCO have been attended with complete success. Maria di Rohan is soon to be produced. At the Theatre Italian, MADAME BARBIERE-NINI has been much admired in Semiramide. M. BELLETTI and M'LLE IDA BERTRAND have also been well received in this opera.

At the Opera Comique, Fra Diavolo. MUSARD is producing much enthusiasm by his immense orchestra and charming quadrilles.

M'LLE VON STRANZ, who has been singing successfully at Leipzig concerts, has made her appearance on the Frankfort stage as Rosina, in "ll Barbiere;" and, in spite of her coming immediately after Madame Sontag, is said to have produced a most favourable impression.

Two composers, whose names are, as yet, new to the musical world, have recently brought forth operas: HERR STRUPPE, whose "Sea Beggars" has been given at Prague, and HERR UNGER, whose | "Tiberius Gracchus" is in preparation at Weimar.

LA FRANCE MUSICALE says that M'LLE CRUVELLI has made two serious blunders--one in attempting to sing Somnambula, and the other in appearing in La Fille du Regiment. Her forte lies in dramatic and passionate music; and she is not at home in an opera like La Somnambula, in which a sentiment of poetic tenderness reigns, which excludes the tragic character.

La Butte des Moulins, of BOIELDIEU, has been declared to consist of plagiarisms from Auber and Adam, Verdi, Meyerbeer, and other composers. "Thanks to the abundance of elements borrowed from all kinds, and all styles, everybody finds something in the opera to his taste, and La Butte des Moulins is a success."

HENRI HERZ, the pianist, who returned only last year from his long journey in the United States, South America, and lately California, gave, on the 12th instant, a brilliant concert at his own concert room, 48 Rue de la Victoire, Paris. The audience was quite numerous, and the toilettes of the ladies very fashionable.

The appearance of M'ME FREZZOLINI has been (with the exception of Lablache) the great event of late in Paris. This diva has been, for ten or twelve years, the "lyric fairy" of Italy. The Paris correspondent of Le Courrier (JULES LECOMTE), remarks: "She was recently in Spain, where she well sustained the weight of her vast reputation. At Paris, she hesitated to appear before the rising star of M'LLE CRUVELLI. But MR. LUMLEY has conquered this resistance, inspired rather by modesty than expediency, by irresistible I know that, at rehearsals, M'ME arguments. FREZZOLINI produces an incredible effect, and that this pale and languishing beauty, who seems every evening, at the balcon of the theatre, to be hardly able to sustain the weight of the opera glass jumelle) which she levels at CRUVELLI, readily recovers there a fiery energy and a glowing tint, as she stamps upon the stage. MR. LUMLEY has had many difficulties to contend against. He has done this with the reserve of an English gentleman. He has conquered public coolness by force of advertisements. His operas have succeeded from week to week, and with each he has given the attraction of the name of an eminent artiste, and the second part of the season will present greater and more varied attractions."

THE FINE ARTS.-Among other foreign attractions which have been promised to Mr. Riddel's American Exhibition, are the Amazon, by Kiss, which took a Grand Council Medal at the late

London exhibition; a colossal statue of Washington, by MAROCHETTI, whose statue of Richard Cœur de Leon also took a Council Medal; a statue of Wesley, by CAREW, and also one of the Crucifixion, exhibited by him in the Crystal Palace; the statue of Prometheus, by MANNING; the Veiled Figure, by MONTI; a silver statue of Columbus, from the Sardinian Commissioners, and some three hundred and fifty works of art exhibited in

London last summer, scarcely less interesting or work, as an account of what he considered the remarkable than those we have enumerated. superior beauty of the newer edifice, it is not as FARINA, the great Eau de Cologne manufacturer, tonishing that he should have omitted any men has engaged to keep a fountain of Cologne water tion of the ogive, since it was evidently regarded playing, during the entire period of the exhibi- by those who first employed it as superior to the tion, provided the amount consumed is admitted round arch, only as "a means of construction." by our government free of duty, which we pre- and not on account of its more picturesque ap sume should be done, as a matter of course. He pearance. has also engaged to exhibit about one hundred and fifty of the very best paintings in Dusseldorf on the same terms. Prince Albert, the Duke of Devonshire, and Sir Joseph Paxton, have also promised to become exhibitors.

We learn from a late number of the Art Journal, that a "remarkable alto-relievo in plaster, an

oval, of the size of seventeen feet, representing the Landing of the Crusaders, under the command of Louis the Saint, in Palestine, and their encounter with the Saracens,' by G. EICHLER, of Berlin, draws the attention of amateurs in a high degree, because the whole surface is coated with a metallic layer, so that it looks like a work of pure silver; and it is not known by what method this has been effected; perhaps by magnetic electricity." Should this application of silver plating to works of Art, prove practical, and not too expensive, we should welcome it as one of the most important discoveries of late years. Many of the most exquisite productions of Gothic Art, such as goblets, screens, and crucifixes, of gold and silver, have perished, because their intrinsic value proved too strong a temptation to their possessors. It is now to be hoped that all the effect of such exquisite works can be retained, without incurring the same risk of destruction.

We find in late numbers of the Deutsches Kunstblatt, or German Art Journal, an extremely interesting series of articles, entitled "Das Aufkommen des Gothischen Styls in England," or, "The Introduction of the Gothic Style of Architecture into England," by DR. KARL SCHNAASE. In these papers the result of great industry and erudition-we find many particulars which will be of great interest to the student of Art. One reason why the period of the introduction (we imagine that no sensible man, at the present day, cares for the innumerable absurd theories as to the origin) of the ogive, or pointed arch, has been enveloped in obscurity, is, according to SCHNAASE, because the very introducers themselves regarded it as a matter of subordinate importance, as contrasted with other particulars by which the true Gothic style was distinguished from the antecedent Romanesque. In Gervase de Tilbury's "Tractatus de combustione ac reparatione Cantuariensis ecclesia," we have a full and authentic account of the burning of Canterbury Cathedral, and its subsequent rebuilding in the Gothic style. From this extremely interesting Tractatus, the keen observation of Schnaase gathers, that so early as the year 1175, the virtual lead in all matters pertaining to architectural knowledge and taste, had passed from the hands of the clergy into those of laymen. As a proof that the older church had not been in the Gothic style, he observes that Gervase speaks of it as having possessed very thick walls and small, dark windows (murus solidus parvulis et obscuris fenestris distinctus), and boasts, as if contrastingly, of the various Gothic attributes of the new building. As this Tractatus is not so much a merely architectural

We are, however, further indebted to this aecount of Gervase de Tilbury, for a hint, which as not coming within the scope of his article, bas not been dilated upon by SCHNASSE. It has long been a favourite theory with modern æstheticists. that while the Classic and Gothic styles received to the very extreme their development, that of the intermediate transition, or Romanesque, r

never brought to a full perfection. Any art, to be perfect, should admit of the fullest harmony with the kindred arts, particularly with that of paint ing. And such was, to a remarkable degree, the case with the old Christian, or Romanesque style. in which vast mosaics and paintings covered walls, whose extent was afterwards occupied by mere colossal Gothic windows. This is the view work entitled "Architecture, and its affinities to taken by that eminent architect, HUBSCH, in hus Painting and Sculpture." "He," remarks HUESCE "who first enters a Gothic cathedral, cannot fail to be struck by a thrill of wonder, when he perceives the light of the outer world, unobstructed by heavy masonry, entering through immense glass walls, and borne on a glow of many hues. Certainly this impression is elevating and varied. particularly when contrasted with that of modern churches. But I find in the colossal mosaic pietures of the old-Christian churches, or in the fresco-paintings of the old-Italian cathedrals, a far more spiritually-Christian character." In Gervas de Tilbury, we learn that in the new church. sculpture and architectoric ornament took the place of a vaulting which, in the old, had been indeed of wood, but covered with what he considered admirable paintings; and there is much in his Tractatus which induces us to believe that he had an extended knowledge of Art as it thea existed. "Ibi cœlum ligneum egregia pictura decoratum, hic fornex lapide et tofo, levi decenter composita est."

The great inference which we would draw from this is, that if there be really no style which our architects can reproduce (apart from literal copying), without committing gross errors and absurdities as is evinced in every attempt at the Gothic, from an ignorance of the Oriental-Gnostic symbolism upon which it is founded—why, then, let our patrons of Art, and those who criticise therein, turn their attention to the incredibly ne glected field of The Transition, or Romanesque which is capable of infinitely more application. without losing its purity; and is far easier in such application to our modern requirements, than the Gothic, Grecian, or Oriental architectures. A medium between the absolute simplicity of the Grecian, and the infinite ornament and detail of the Gothic, it offers to the depraved taste of the age, which is too corrupt to comprehend the purity of the one, and too ignorant to appre ciate the exquisite variety of the other, a means by which it may be gradually led back to something like a comparatively correct standard of taste. To which study and style we commend those who cater for such “fancies.”

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solace ourself with the thought, that it is one of the penalties of greatness, and manage to smilingly endure the martyrdom. Well, April will really be here anon, with its sunshine and its showers; and we can but hope its clouds may pass lightly o'er you, and render the brightness but the dearer for a momentary obscurity.

WE sat down, reader, to write our April Editorial,, in such friendly relations, is slightly vexatious; but we and as it seemed to us we were expected to discourse somewhat upon the loveliness of Spring, after a few minutes' cogitation, we indited one or two very neat pa. ragraphs setting forth the praises of the month,-much in the usual style of doing such things. Then we came to an abrupt pause, and were sadly at fault for a continuation of the theme. In truth, our heart was not in it, and we believe you will like us all the better, if we own right up. How could we write con amore of singing birds and blooming flowers, when seated comfortably in our furnace-heated office, listening to the wintry winds without, and shivering with cold at an unexpected opening of the door? We cannot do it well, so, if you please, we will repudiate, for the present, all mention of the pleasant sights and sounds incidental to a balmy April day, and talk on in easy consonance with the mood naturally induced by the less charming realities around us. Nothing of the flowery wealth of Spring have we seen, save a tremblingly-delicate snow-drop, half afraid to blossom; and the nearest approach to its balminess we have rejoiced in, has been the moderated temperature of a couple of thawing days, promising the gradual disappearance of the fields of ice and snow that have so long greeted our out-door vision.

Now don't imagine, reader, by all that we have said, that your Editor is of the Scandinavian race, having his home located in some out-of-the-way place near the Poles, and that you have been all the while deceived by the flimsy pretext of his residence in the beautiful city of Philadelphia; or, again, that he is even now exceeding editorial license in the attempt to hoax you on this first of April day; no such sorry jest is intended. Why, then, when perchance the softly-pattering April rain lulls you with its gentle music as you read, why should the symphony to our thought be the hoarse Borean blast? Whence this marked difference of condition,-if climate be the same?

The truth is, you delight in the reception of your successive numbers of "Sartain," some time closely approximating to the nominal day of publication, while we are obliged to send off our editorial sheets to the printer several weeks before that day comes round. In the present instance, what might agreeably harmonize with your experience of Nature's gala aspect, when glancing over our gossip, would, as we have intimated, be exceedingly unseasonable at the period we are writing. Even before the saucy March winds have scattered the dreariness and dampness of February, we must have done with our work for April. When you are in search of the violets of early spring, we, instead of accompanying you in spirit, and sharing in your pleasant occupation, must, perforce, remain at home, busied in preparing your midsummer repast;-an intellectual banquet for June, of no mean quality.

This impossibility of occasionally enjoying a simultaneous harmony of pursuit with you, with whom we are

A nook in our basket is filled, as usual, with MSS. intended for our "reserved columus," and as the materia! now selected is principally poetical, the occasion is not inopportune for a brief explanation, on our part, as to the insertion of poems in this particular department of the Magazine. All articles in our Editorial form, are like the contributions in the earlier pages of the number, to be regarded as entirely original, unless the contrary be expressly stated;-as in the instance of the stanzas entitled "Teresa Kossuth," reprinted as a matter of courtesy, at the request of the authoress, in our February Editorial. The appearance of articles in these latter pages does not, of itself, argue our opinion as to their being superior or inferior to the other contributions in the book. Quality does not regulate the precedence of place-but we are decided sometimes by the desire to say a few words of our own in introduction, which we are too modest to intrude in the space devoted to our correspondents; or there may be a few words of the author, explanatory of the motive in sending the composition, or of the circumstances under which it was written, that might be pleasanter to all parties to have printed; or we have this only chance of fulfilling our promise of publishing at a designated time.

The following "Song of the Swallows" is extracted from an unpublished, and, as yet, unfinished poem, by that true genius, R. H. Stoddard, the first book of which we had the good fortune to read in MS. The subject is a beautiful classical legend, and it is almost needless to add, that it has received highly artistic treatment. As far as completed, "The Search for Persephone" gave promise of a production of rare excellence, ranking in our memory with Horne's "Orion." We hope our gifted contributor will not be induced to defer, indefinitely, the finishing of this work, but allow us, at no very distant date, the pleasure of reading it entire :

SICILIAN PASTORAL.
From "The Search for Persephone."
The nests in spring were full of bluish eggs,
In summer, full of birds; now autumn comes,
The nests are empty, and the birds are gone.
The soft white clouds are flecked, the sky is bound
With belts of swallows, stretching from the west,
To where the east is girded in with haze.
Stay! swallows, stay! the land is near, and bright;
The sea is far, and dark, and perilous,

And all beyond it alien, and unknown.

Why should ye fly so soon? why fly at all,
When you might stay with us through all the year,
And be in deepening summer all the time?
Here, all the vales are full of dewy flowers,
The orchard-plots are full of juicy fruits,
And all the purple woods are full of balm.

Stay! swallows, stay! the flowers and fruit and balm
Will fade and die, when you have left the isle;
And winds will moan the absence of your songs!
Stay! swallows, stay! and hear the last-year's birds:
"We flew o'er many a sea where Summer broods,
But found no isle, no clime like sweet Sicilia!"
They will not hear, we waste our words in air;
We might as well go chatter to the crows,
For they would hear us, though they meant to go.
Go! swallows, go! and thank the Gods for life:
They watch o'er everything, however small,
And they are very gracious,-for you live!
Go swallows, go! and be it all your doom,
To bear the memory of what you leave-
For memory will cancel half the sin;
And be it all your punishment to sing
In tropic islands of Sicilian sweets,

And shame the tropic birds with summer songs.

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Dr. T. H. Chivers sent us, as a free-will offering, the following stanzas, "To the Queen of My Heart," which was intended for our March number, but crowded out by the press of other matter. We shall endeavour to have them copied now, without the slightest deviation in orthography or punctuation, from the original draft. The Doctor is inclined to wage war against the whole tribe of printers and proof-readers, for the detriment he has suffered, in their "being over wise above what is written." He says that his "Chant D'Amour," in our February number, was copied in several journals, "some of which made sad havoc with it in the way of typography." Errors of this sort "are enough to break the heart of a common man, let alone that of a poet, who is of a tenderer nature." Unfortunately, we come in for a share of his indignation, for in our version of the same poem, he tells us a change in the punctuation, "carelessly overlooked, altered the meaning of a whole verse." We shall not acquaint our readers whether or not we permitted this sad mistake to occur, because we prefer their regarding us as infallible, but express our sincere regrets to the Doctor, and promise "better luck next time."

TO THE QUEEN OF MY HEART.

"I have drunk Lethe!"-JOHN WEBSTER, 1665.

I will give you Bread of Angels, sweeter far than any honey

Whiter far, in its clear sweetness, than the snow of

Leda's love

In the South-Land, far away, beneath the skies forever sunny,

It was dropt upon the golden flowers in dew-drops from above.

Then no heart can speak so sweetly as the heart that has been broken,

As the Swan will sing the sweetest on the day that 4

must die;

And no word can ever charm us like the words that we hear spoken

By our friend upon his deathbed, when he knows that Heaven is nigh.

Pure as drops of dew congealed to Pearls beneath the troubled Ocean,

That the Divers value most because found deepest

the Sea;

Are the words that now well up from out my heart's divine devotion,

And here sparkle in this JEWEL set to shrine my love

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