ing of this act not to legislate slavery into any Territory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom; but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States." This principle will surely not be controverted by any individual of any party professing devotion to popular government. Besides, how vain and illusory would any other principle prove in practice in regard to the Territories. This is apparent from the fact admitted by all, that after a Territory shall have entered the Union and become a State, no constitutional power would then exist which could prevent it from either abolishing or establishing slavery, as the case may be, according to its sovereign will and pleasure.

Most happy would it be for the country if this long agitation were at an end. During its whole progress it has produced no practical good to any human being, whilst it has been the source of great and dangerous evils. It has alienated and estranged one portion of the Union from the other, and has even seriously threatened its very existence. To my own personal knowledge, it has produced the impression among foreign nations that our great and glorious confederacy is in constant danger of dissolution. This does us serious injury, because acknowledged power and stability always command respect among nations, and are among the best securities against unjust aggression and in favor of the maintenance of honorable peace.

May we not hope that it is the mission of the Democratic party, now the only surviving conservative party of the country, ere long to overthrow all sectional parties, and restore the peace, friendship, and mutual confidence which prevailed in the good old time, among the different members of the confederacy? Its character is strictly national, and it therefore asserts no principle for the guidance of the federal government which is not adopted and sustained by its members in each and every State. For this reason it is everywhere the same determined foe of all geographical parties, so much and so justly dreaded by the Father of his Country. From its very nature it must continue to exist so long as there is a Constitution and a Union to preserve. A conviction of these truths has induced many of the purest, the ablest and most independent of our former opponents, who have differed from us in times gone by upon old and extinct party issues, to come into our ranks and devote themselves with us to the cause of the Constitution and the Union. Under these circnmstances I most cheerfully pledge myself, should the nomination of the Convention be ratified by the people, that all the power and influence constitutionally possessed by the Executive shall be exerted in a firm but conciliatory spirit, during the single term I shall remain in office, to restore the same harmony among the sister States which prevailed before this apple of discord, in the form of slavery agitation, had been cast into their midst. Let the members of the family abstain from intermeddling with the exclusive domestic concerns of each other, and cordially unite, on the basis of perfect equality among themselves, in promoting the great national objects of common interest to all, and the good work will be instantly accomplished.

In regard to our foreign policy, to which you have referred in your communication, it is quite impossible for any human foreknowledge to prescribe positive rules in advance, to regulate the conduct of a future administration in all the exigencies which may arise in our various and ever-changing relations with foreign powers. The federal government must of necessity exercise a sound discretion in dealing with international questions as they may occur, but this under the strict responsibility which the Executive must always feel to the people of the United States and the judgment of posterity. You will, therefore, excuse me for not entering into particulars; whilst I heartily concur with you in the general sentiment, that our foreign affairs ought to be conducted with such wisdom and firmness as to assure the prosperity of the people at home, whilst the interests and honor of our country are wisely but inflexibly maintained abroad. Our foreign policy ought ever to be based upon the principle of doing justice to all nations, and requiring justice from them in return; and from this principle I shall never depart.

Should I be placed in the Executive chair, I shall use my best exertions to cultivate peace and friendship with all nations, believing this to be our highest policy

as well as our most imperative duty; but at the same time I shall never forget that in case the necessity should arise, which I do not now apprehend, our national rights and national honor must be preserved at all hazards and at any sacrifice.

Firmly convinced that a special Providence governs the affairs of nations, let us humbly implore his continued blessing upon our country, and that he may avert from us the punishment we justly deserve for being discontented and ungrateful whilst enjoying privileges above all nations, under such a Constitution and such a Union as has never been vouchsafed to any other people. Yours, very respectfully, JAMES BUCHANAN.

MONTHLY LITERARY RECORD.

Doesticks: What He Says. New-York: Livermore & Rudd.

Q. PHILANDER is palpably before us. We have caught the rascal. We have impounded him in a book. We have shut him up in "boards." We have him fenced in a volume. Erratic and volatile as he is, he can not escape us. Let us take a good look at him, and consider his dimensions. Is he a Jonah's gourd, or a durable plant? We do not think that we hazard much in prophesying that he will not wither in a night. On the contrary, we frankly believe he will grow stronger, and ripen with the stealing hand of time, to bear lustier fruit than these sketches. He is of purely indigenous growth, and the native soil must nourish him. Almost all new writers are brought before the public by some one of those benevolent “mutual admiration" coteries, which constitute themselves the guardians of the public taste, and purveyors general to the public appetite. "Doesticks" escaped the curse of such an introduction. He wrote-probably without knowing that he could write-wrote, because it tickled his own fancy to do it, neither caring nor knowing whether it would tickle any body else's. What he wrote was fresh, novel, real. He struck a new vein of absolute humor. He hit upon a form of bizarrerie entirely original, and it took like an epidemic. It took, because the American people love real fun, and have a truer appreciation of genuine humor than any other in existence. Without a herald, without preparation or puffery, the whole land received, understood, and broke out into a genuine laugh over his first sketch. He was spontaneously elected by the popular suffrage of the whole Union, a President of fun. And so, Philander, you have been sworn in on a comic almanach, and this book is your Inaugural. Good! The next thing is to go on with your administration. The popular voice is with you, and, for a while, of course, the critics will shrug their shoulders, and say, tace is the Latin for candle. But do not be deceived. They will be at you by and by. We

like you truly. We like to laugh with you, and we like better to see that your writing proves anew the distinction between wit and humor-wit, a quality of the head-humor, of the heart. There is a rectitude of thinking about you, which lends an additional charm to your novel trick of words. But look to your English, Philander. You are a little careless with it, now and then, which is a shame for one to whom words come by nature. Your demon has baptized you in ink. You are gathered in that spell. You can never escape. You must write-write-till the cows come home. Now, sir, as you are full and running over with matter of fun, and have given us a new fashion of it, very fresh and laughter-moving, just cram me Charles Lamb, and leave no chance, at any time, for any ill-natured critic, to catch you even on a word. You owe it to yourself, you who have many thoughts to convey, to make their medium as perfect as close study will enable you. We don't want you to tie up yourself to any precise shape, nor to abandon your former fashions of speech. Much of the charm is in them. We simply wish you not to write in a hurry. Fire the same old gun, but swab her out thoroughly, and weigh the charge exactly, so that she may carry her farthest and best. You're a credit to the American school, sir. Go up, head. But mind you stay there, and don't fancy that you can do so without study.

The Quarterly Law Journal. Nos. 1 and 2. A. B. Guidon, Editor. Published by J. W. Randolph, Richmond, Va.

Ir seems rather curious that this Law Journal should be the only periodical publication of the kind in all the Southern States. We are informed in the introduction that this is so, and, as far as our own knowledge extends, we have no fact to oppose to the statement, and find ourselves somewhat puzzled to account for it. Both the Bar and Judiciary in some of the Southern States have been sufficiently famous for legal ability, and it would be strange, indeed, if the State which clains Madison and Marshall as her citizens, can not support a magazine devoted to the science which they so eminently adorned. It is more especially strange, when we consider that a great many topics of the law, as administered to our Southern brethren, never come under discussion with us; so that our law periodicals, numerous and able as they are, leave a gap for the Southern lawyer which must be filled for him at home, or not at all. The present publication seems well designed to supply that need, and, in addition, to contain a great variety of valuable matter, extracted with judgment from the English cases and others, promising to form, if continued, almost a complete law library in itself. We should like to see something more in it in the shape of original articles, discussing important legal topics, reviewing celebrated cases decided in their courts, etc.; and that in the future numbers of the Journal we shall be gratified with discussions of this nature from some of the able pens which we know make Southern briefs, we can not doubt.

The Island of Cuba, By Alexander Humboldt. Translated from the Spanish; with Notes, and a Preliminary Essay, by J. S. Thrasher. New-York. 1856.

THE residuary legatee of a great estate might very naturally be supposed to take the deepest interest in the condition, resources, and capabilities of that property he hoped, at no distant day, to call his own: but the disciples of "manifest destiny" have, hitherto, presented an exception to this normal rule. For although that portion of Baron Humboldt's "Personal Narrative," which relates to the Island of Cuba has been translated and published as a separate work, in both French and Spanish, we are indebted to Mr. Thrasher for its first introduction to the American public. It would be out of place for us to do more than remind the reader that Baron Humboldt is the author of the text, to which Mr. Thrasher has added such further particulars and statistics as his long residence on the island, and minute acquaintance with its social and political condition enabled him (better than any other man) to collect. We have a succinct view of the agriculture, mineral resources, climate, timber, water-power, and labor market of the island-each subject divided into its own particular chapters, thus forming a work of accurate and easy reference. With the political condition of Cuba, and all the more recent developments of a spirit of independence in the Creole population, Mr. Thrasher is, of course, intimately conversant. Himself the victim of Spanish tyranny, his sympathies are strongly enlisted in behalf of the suffering colonists; and we are convinced that a general perusal of this work (which is got up with great beauty, and accompanied by an excellent map) will tend to hasten the chariot-wheels of the destiny which promises to absorb the whole Northern continent, and the islands thereto adjacent, in one confederated bond of liberty.

The American Railway Map; showing the Dépôts and Stations. New-York: Ensign, Bridgman & Fanning.

THE summer tourist, and indeed all travellers generally, will do themselves a favor by procuring a copy of this map before embarking on the railroad channels of our country. A practical pocket-guide of this description needs only to be known to be considered indispensable. The very beautiful execution of the map, however, deserves our eulogy as a work of art.

The Year-Book of the Nations for 1856. By Elihu Burritt. New-York: D. Appleton & Co.

THE "learned blacksmith," it would seem, is equally at home in figures and in languages; and not less familiar with the commercial and financial statistics of humanity than with the tongues they speak. As a work of reference on all international concerns, it may be called the multissimum in parvissimo.

Theognis; a Lamp in the Cavern of Evil. By Catuis Junior. Boston: Wentworth & Company.

WE have not yet completed the perusal of this volume, and may as well confess it; for the little that we have read assures us, that it is a work entirely out of the common run, and by no means to be treated with the ordinary levity of criticism. That "Catuis, Junior," the author, has an extremely good opinion of himself, we do not need his "lamp" to discover: it is not buried in the "caverns"

of the body of the book, but sticks out, so to speak, like a burning and a shining light on the threshold of the preface. But whether this good opinion be well founded, or the reverse, we are not at present in a position to pass judgment. Perhaps it may be considered some recommendation to say that we do really long to get at the bottom of what "Theognis" means: the style is so unique-the affectation of antiquity and Pilgrim's-Progressism so striking, that it is a positive refreshment to the mental eye to rest on them after having surveyed for months the dead level of hackneyed phrases which are now commonly in use.

Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases; so classified and arranged as to facilitate the expression of ideas, and assist in literary composition. By Peter Mark Roget. Revised and edited by Barnas Sears, D.D. Boston: Gould & Lincoln.

WITHIN SO Small a compass we have seldom seen so much useful information compressed. The synonyms with which it supplies us greatly increase and facilitate our command of expression; and the idiomatic phrases which are classified in their intellectual, not alphabetical, connection, are the greatest helps that could be furnished to the young composer or conversationist. With the common dictionary the purpose is to explain the meaning or idea of a given word. With the "Thesaurus," the object is very usefully reversed, and we are furnished with a variety of words to suit the expression or conveyance of a given idea. In addition to the complete work of Roget, the American editor has supplied us with an alphabeticalist of all the foreign words and expressions which we most frequently meet with in works of general literature; these quotations embrace the phrases most frequently made use of from the French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, and German languages. No higher commendation of the care, good taste, and judgment with which this volume has been revised and enlarged by its present editor, can be given, than the mention of the fact that its author, in the later editions of his work, has adopted its American form, and incorporated (though without acknowledging) a great number of the additions and improvements made on this side of the Atlantic. To those who aspire to facility and elegance of diction, this volume will prove an invaluable help. We wish, with all our hearts, for the sake of our noble mother tongue, that this verbal treasury may be read and ransacked as widely as it is capable of diffusing information:

Appleton's Cyclopædia of Biography; embracing a series of Original Memoirs of the most Distinguished Persons of all Times. American edition. Edited by Francis L. Hawks, D.D., LL.D. With numerous Illustrations. New-York: D. Appleton & Company.

SOME short time since a "Cyclopædia of Biography" was published in London, edited, we believe, by Mr. Rich, and at once obtained the approbation of the critics as a work of immense research, great historical accuracy, and ready and compendious reference. The criticisms in the various departments appertaining to history, politics, law, the fine arts, ecclesiastical affairs, and military science, were distinguished for the thorough mastery and familiarity with which they were separately treated. The secret of this perfection-for it approached that quality in so far as it went-was extremely simple. The critical and biographical notices of the men belonging to each of the departments above referred to, were intrusted to the