The artist's choice is admirable! Could any man, however deeply his soul might be imbued with taste and love for the poetry of nature, make a better selection from among all the lovely spots the beautiful earth affords? Let him take the romantic purlieus of Switzerland-let him sail over the Loire, (as superb a stream as any in the world excepting our own Hudson,)—— let him journey over both Hemispheres, and he will not find a spot better calculated to make a picture. It is romance itself-the very essence of natural beauty-the concentration of the creed and liturgy of nature's God. Any one, with a soul above the merely-mechanical attributes of social life, could become either a poet or a painter by residing upon such a spot as this. If not, there is no inspiration in landscape.

Lake George lies a little south and west of Lake Champlain, its outlet being about four miles from the head of its larger companion. It was discovered in July, 1669, (nearly two centuries ago,) by Samuel D. Champlain, about eleven years before the sturdy and conscience-strengthened Puritans placed their toil-worn feet from the Mayflower upon the rock at Plymouth. The discoverer named it Lake St. Sacrament or Holy Lake, because of the purity of its waters and the apparently mysterious character of its origin. It has no inlets, its sources being entirely its own springs. It is famous for having been the scene of the first battle ever fought upon this continent with the aid of gunpowder. This was fought (exactly where our plate was drawn) by Mr. Champlain, the discoverer, against the Indians, on the 29th of July, in the year 1669. In this battle he killed, with his own blunderbuss, three Iroquois chiefs. The contest was disputed by whites, under the command of Champlain, and by the Algonquin tribe of red men, led and directed by the Iroquois

Lake George is, or ought to be, noted for being the spot in the imme liate vicinity of which Abercrombie fought his memorable battle against the French in 1758-pursuing the fight from the margin of the outlet to Fort Ticonderoga, where the

outlet enters Lake Champlain. Abercrombie, as is well known to the student of domestic history, attacked the fort, and did not retire from pursuing his assaults thereupon until compelled by the loss of twenty hundred men.

At its head is, at the present time, the town of Caldwell, where is situated "The Lake House," the most superior hotel situated at the most fashionable and most delicious watering place in the United States. The "Lake House" is kept by Hon. J. F. Sherrill; it was of late enlarged and improved to meet the increasing visitations of the public, and is now a summer resort that has no equal in this country. It commands a splendid view of the point where Abercrombie embarked 16,000 men, (July 4, 1758,)-of French Mountain, and of the relics of Fort William Henry and Fort George.

It will be recollected that the first-mentioned of these forts is endowed with a melancholy interest, as having formed the scene of the neverforgotten surrender and shocking butchery of the English by the French and Indians under the infamous General Montcalm, in 1747-an event vividly and ably commemorated in Cooper's "Last of the Mohicans."

These are not the only thrilling associations, either of the past or the present time, belonging to this place. To learn and enjoy them the reader must visit Lake George; and if he does not pronounce it one of the sublimest spots upon the globe's surface, and commend us for our taste in selecting it for the subject of our illustration, we will frankly confess that either he or ourself is— egregiously mistaken.

Of Lake George we can properly say, supposing that to be nature in its most attractive form.

"To him who in the love of nature holds
Communion with her visible forms, she speaks
A various language: for his gayer hours
She has a voice of gladness, and a smile
And eloquence of beauty, and she glides
Into his darker musings, with a mild
And healing sympathy, that steals away
Their sharpness ere he is aware."--BRYANT.

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Morse's Magnetic Telegraph far outstrips railroads, steamboats, and all those other modern inventions and improvements which are so rapidly and effectually revolutionizing business, society, and the entire order of the things that were. Its advantages to business men are incalculable. Baltimore or Buffalo merchant, or any large operator, has an application for $10,000 worth of goods, which he has on hand, excepting one quality or variety of one kind, the want of which will prevent the sale. At four o'clock he despatches a telegraphic order to New York for the wanted items, and in an hour they are on their way of which he is informed in fifteen minutes -and they are in Baltimore the next morning; whereas it would have taken three or four days to have obtained them by letter, which is longer than his customer can wait. Nor can he know whether the New York merchant can or has supplied him till return of mail, perhaps ten times as many hours as it is minutes by telegraph. It will probably completely revolutionize existing modes of doing business; for when telegraphic lines become extended, and its transmitting powers vastly improved, as they doubtless will be, Western, Southern, Northern-all business men, instead of leaving their business and going to distant cities, will order by telegraph what, and as, they want.

Or a person dies, some of whose very near friends live at a distance. A letter will not reach them in season for them to arrive before decomposition compels the burial, and even then it may lay in the post-office for days, whereas the telegraph will enable those many hundreds of miles off to be present: and thus of innumerable cases like these. Its prospective advantages, and the number of useful ends which it will yet be made to subserve, exceed all computation.

But it is in the world of mind proper that it is destined to effect by far the greatest revolution, and achieve its highest good: coupled with phonography, it will place any important speech, delivered in any part of our vast nation, in the hands of the entire country while it is being delivered. Thus, phonography now re

ports a speech verbatim, and, by having several sets of wires-especially after the telegraph has been still further improved*-it can be transmitted in takes, as the printers parcel off matter wanted immediately, and sent throughout the land, there to be set up, and the first part printed and circulated before the last part is delivered! As, when Fulton first navigated the Hudson by steam, none conceived it possible that this new motive power, great as it was considered, could ever be made to accomplish a thousandth part of what it has already done-and it is yet in its merest infancy-so we can form no conception of the wonders the telegraph is destined, in the lapse of ages, to accomplish. See what it has already done in connection with the press. See how many new papers it has given birth to all along its lines, every one of which go forth to rouse and develop mind. In short, it has literally electrified the civilized world. And if it achieves all this in the green tree, what will it do in the dry Time alone can answer.

The claim of Prof. Morse to the real original invention of the magnetic Telegraph has been disputed, but never disproved. But whether the abstract conception of the idea is first due to him or not, it is evident that the practical realization of it in the form which now so wonderfully subserves the convenience and interest of men, is the result of his genius and perseverance. His machine was the first one used in this country, and beyond all question, it was due to his energy that the experimental lines were erected, whose success led to the adoption of all others. Prof. Morse is distinguished not only for his inventive skill, but for many other traits of genius, either of which alone would make him distinguished. artist of high powers and attainments, his repu tation is scarcely second to that of any American, He, is also, a scholar, a gentleman, and a Christian, adorning the reputation of his genius by many of the most agreeable and useful characteristics of private life.

An

* One of its recent improvements uses LETTERS, as in printing, and others will be added as time rolls on.

In resuming the brief notices of such portions of the current issues of the Press, as appear best adapted to the tastes and wants of the Christian Family, it will be the Editor's desire to commend none that are not worthy of such a companionship. The number of new books is now so great, and the range, both of character and topics, so extensive, that with the most voracious reader selection becomes a necessity. No parent could if he would, and if he be a Christian parent, would not if he could, introduce to the study of his family all the works now issuing, even from the better class of publishing houses. In respect to ability, interest, and moral influence, there is a wide difference, which it is at once natural and prudent to consider, before incurring the expense of procuring any. Yet how few have the time or the opportunity to ascertain this difference. The offices, therefore, of a trustworthy and intelligent friend, whose position and profession make him acquainted with all the changes of the literary market, have no inconsiderable utility. We know that many readers depend much upon the little indications which the editorial notices of their favorite journal afford, and regulate their consumption of literary food much by the price-current they there discern.

It is this unpretending, but really useful office that we undertake for our readers and friends, not so well circumstanced for understanding the worth and character of the new books that appear. We enter upon no critical analysis of the works we notice; we undertake not to describe all their excellences, nor to outline their arguments, nor to expose all their defects. We shall commend only those works that appear to us to be good, and to be specially adapted for the improvement and entertainment of the refined family circle. Books that are evil enough to merit our condemnation and criticism, we shall simply ignore. We are not called upon to condemn them, and we shall certainly not recommend them. We believe that the reader, following up our announcements, as they appear from month to month, would obtain a body of reading free from objection on moral or religious grounds, possessing merit and worth, and well deserving a place among the books of any family.

Such at least, shall be our conscientious aim.

The busy press of the Messrs. CARTER has recently added several valuable works to their already large and judicious list. Among them we would particularly specify their reprint of Dr. Stebbing's translation of the Life of John Calvin, by Dr. Paul Henry, in two octavo volumes --the first of which only has yet appeared. On all accounts this is to be regarded as a most interesting and important contribution to our religious literature. It is a work of massive learning, digesting and presenting the results of research which none but a German could bestow, and bringing to light every fact of the Reformer's life necessary for a complete history of his labors, and view of his character. The noble enthusiasm of the biographer affects the reader; he discerns, almost from the first page, the traces of a great and manly character, and the incidents of an eventful and all-important life. Calvin's influence was greatly concerned in promoting and shaping the Reformation, and his life was full of the elements of the moral and sublime. How great and good he was, but few readers are aware. There is an earnest simplicity and candor which all will admire, whether or not the biographer's conclusions are always adopted; and many impor

tant facts connected with the Reformation are here first brought to our knowledge. It does much towards correcting popular mistakes concerning Calvin, and presents the lineaments of a great soul, an energetic will, and a self-denying and devoted life.

Egypt, its scenery and inhabitants, form the topies of two new works, which may be commended to the lovers of this profitable and entertaining class of reading. The Lands of the Moslem, by El Mukattim, is the title of a clear, graphic, and very sensible work published by the CARTERS, describing the tour of a practical and intelligent traveler, desirous of transmitting, unambitiously, the striking impressions of the novel and stirring scenes of the Orient. There are many books more picturesque and entertaining; but it is seldom that we are so successfully put in the shoes of the tourist, and enabled to see with him, and suffer with him, as this clear-headed author contrives to do. All the minutia of incident, expense, route, troubles, impositions and perils which the ordinary traveler encounters, are carefully told; while at the same time the more striking events and scenes are forcibly depicted. One finds here more information than entertainment, and carries from the journal a definiteness of impression which mary a rhapsody might fail to impart.

The other work on Egypt appearing during the month, is from the press of the HARPERS, entitled Nile Notes by a Howadji,--an elegantly executed affair. The author attempts no descriptions, but creates pictures of the strangely gorgeous scenes that make up the idea of the East, and dazzles the reader by a panorama radiant with all the gold and purple of those sun-lit climes. The author is a poet, and his work is a poem--gay, glittering, splendid as the theme he delights himself with. There is some resemblance to the celebrated "Eothen," though in many respects this is the superior. We cannot commend nor excuse the moral tone of some of the passages; but they are few, and the impression which the whole conveys is one of exceeding beauty and interest, and finely in keeping with the subject.

The Genius of Scotland is the title of a series of spirited description of the most celebrated modern literary characters of Scotland, by Rev. Mr. Turnbull, of Hartford, a new edition of which has just been published by Messrs. CAR TER & BROTHERS. An amiable enthusiasm of admiration of the great men of his native land, with whose fame and character are associated his earliest recollections, gives the book a great degree of vivacity, while the criticism it presents is both just and instructive. It is a very pleasant work, enlarging the reader's acquaintance, and presenting an admirable picture of some of the greatest and best men of modern times.

The Conquest of Florida, a graphic and highly acceptable contribution to the early annals of our country, from the pen of Prof. Theodore Irving, nephew of Washington Irving, and an evident inheritor of much of the characteristic genius of the family. It traces the career of De Soto, so far as it relates to the fortunes of the Florida peninsula, with great interest, and some of the best qualities of the historian. The incidents of this career are strangely interesting and romantic, and of great value to those who desire a familiar acquaintance with the early history of the country. It is published, uniformly with the fine edition of Washington Irving's works, now isuing by Mr. PUTNAM.

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The Riches of Bunyan is a volume of carefully selected extracts from the writings of Bunyan, published by the AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. They embrace a great variety of terse, rich, and significant expressions, relating to some of the deepest experiences and most precious hopes of the human heart. It is prefaced by a very well written introduction from the pen of Rev. Dr. Williams, which commends, with cordial earnestness, the precious writings of Bunyan, and finely discriminates some of his more sterling qualities. The extracts are brief, and are designed for desultory reading; and nothing could exceed their fullness and aptness for such suggestive use. We could wish it were taken as the closet companion of every Christian.

Henry Martyn. Two volumes of memorials of this distinguished missionary and admirable man, have been recently issued, which will supply a source of great profit and gratification to Christian readers. His Memoir has been published by the Messrs. CARTER, containing, with the simple story of his life and labors, a selection of his letters and diaries, which are full of the sweetness and trust of piety in its most lovely aspect. But few names excite a more general and genial sympathy than his; and we could scarcely name the specimen of Christian biography better adapted to minister to the better feelings of the heart than this. As a kind of appendix to this volume, a collection of the unpublished journals and letters of Martyn has been issued by M. W. DODD, in a large 12mo. volume. They are entirely distinct from those embraced in the Memoir, and probably embody all the remains of the good man that ought to be published. This volume discloses more of the inner life and real character than the other. The spiritual struggles, the daily temptations, the earnest longings after God, the varied processes by which the heart was ripened for glory, under the tuitions of grace, are vividly and touchingly delineated. The literary qualities of the volume will also command admiration. There are graces of composition and imagery that reveal the poetry of his nature. To all who prize these revelations of the inner life, the work will have an unusual charm, and a great profit.

Mr. Dopp has also contributed to the stock of first-rate religious literature in the new work of Rev. Dr. Spring, entitled, First Things, in 2 vols., octavo, consisting of a series of discourses on some of the memorable primordia of human history--as the first man and woman, the first marriage, the first temptation, the first sin, the first evangelical promise, the first murder, &c., bringing under review a great variety of the most important truths and duties of life. They are written in that graceful, polished style which distinguishes Dr. Spring, and renders him one of the greatest of living sermonizers; and contain, in all their parts, a healthful infusion of sound doctrine and saving truth. Without expressing assent to all that is propounded, we cordially agree with the universal commendations bestowed upon the work, and believe it to be one of the most impressive and interesting enforcements of truth that has lately challenged the thought and feeling of the church.

The Authority of God, is the significant title of a new work from the eloquent and impressive pen of Dr Merle D'Aubigne, the celebrated historian of the Reformation, published by Messrs. CARTER & BROTHER. It holds up, as the great barrier against Popery on the one hand, and Infidelity on the other, the supreme authority of the Scriptures. The discussion of the theme involves the question of the authenticity and inspiration of the Bible, and the radical errors of both systems, which he would oppose. It is earnest, concise, pointed, and rigorously logical-carrying the heart by its enthusiam, and convincing the intellect by its energetic reasoning. The faith of the believer will receive confirmation and clearness, from a perusal of it.

Illustrated Domestic Bible-Mr. S. HUESTON, 137 Nas

sau-street, has been issuing in numbers, an edition of the Family Bible, which being completed, he now has elegantly bound, and adorned with unusual attractions. It contains the Sacred Text, newly paragraphed to suit the sense, without interfering with the present division of chapters and verses. It is also portioned off for daily reading; and explanatory words and phrases are thrown in brackets, to assist the reader, and throw light upon the meaning. To this, admirable marginal readings are added, and copious annotations, which are among the most apt, concise, and useful notes we ever saw. They condense a great amount of learning, and keep steadily in view the one great object of throwing light upon the text. Judicious and apposite practical reflections, enforcing the truths of the passage, are also added, which are well adapted for family reading Another distinguishing feature is its numerous and beautiful illustrations; these are thrown in every page, and do not consist of fancy sketches and useless adornments, but are representations of scenery and places mentioned, or of the manners and customs of the East, derived from coins, monuments, and every archæological source, and throw great light upon the meaning. They are all beautifully engraved and ingeniously arranged, and are an unusually fine instance of beauty and utility united. The whole is compressed into the ordinary size of the Family Bible, and, neatly printed and bound, is sold at about the usual price of bibles. We think it is the best bible of the kind and price to be had, and we congratulate Christian families upon its appearance.

The World's Progress: a Dictionary of Dates-by G. P. Putnam. We know of no chronological manual at all comparable with this work of Mr. Putnam's, for brevity of statement, convenience of reference, and general accuracy of details. It is the result of great reading, and serves the student and the general reader an admirable purpose as a book of reference. It is neatly printed and arranged with that practical skill which the business man best understands.

The Path of Life, by Rev. Henry A. Rowland, published by M. W. DODD, is a book designed for practical religious instruction to those inquiring the way of life. Its principles are sound, its directions specific and clear, and its tone and spirit in harmony with the state of mind it would influence, and the solemn themes it discusses. Its concise form and practical character, evidently suggested by long pastoral experience, will be, to most readers, a great recommendation.

Lays of the Kirk and Covenant, is a series of Poems illustrative of some of the principal scenes and personages of the Scottish persecution, full of reverential feeling and piety. They evince sometimes great spirit and force; and, with the beautiful illustrations accompanying them, give a vivid impression of those tragic events which form so conspicuous a feature of the religious history of Scotland. The author is Mrs. Menteath, and the publishers R. CARTER & BROTHERS.

A new exegetical work from the veteran biblicist, Prof. Stuart, a Commentary on the Book of Ecclesiastes, has been published by Mr. PUTNAM, in a small 12mo., bearing the marks of scholarship, care, and industry. Familiarity with the original, and with the whole field of biblical literature, long practice in critical and hermeneutical labors, and native candor and love of truth, are some of the qualifications which this eminent man brings to the work of exegesis. Whether his conclusions are conceded or not, the praise of ingenuous learning must always be awarded. His philological investigations throw great light upon this intricate book, and are worthy, we need not say, of the study of scholars.