“Man, thou hast been a citizen in this great state [the world]; what difference does it make to thee whether for five years or three? for that which is conformable to the laws is just for all.  Where is the hardship, then, if no tyrant or unjust judge sends thee away from the state, but Nature who brought thee into it?  The same as if a praetor who has employed an actor dismisses him from the stage.  ’But I have not finished the five acts,—­only three of them.’  Thou sayest well; but in life the three acts are the whole drama; for what shall be a complete drama is determined by him who was once the cause of its composition, and now of its dissolution; but thou art the cause of neither.  Depart, then, satisfied, for he who dismisses thee is satisfied."[36]

The book is one which scarcely admits of analysis, and of which it is impossible to convey an idea by any discussion of its contents.  In characterizing the man we have characterized the “Thoughts” as the commentary of personal experience on the virtues of fortitude, patience, piety, love, and trust.  They have a history, and have been the chosen companion of many and very different men of note.  Our own native Stoic, the latest, and, since Fichte, the best representative of that school, fed his youth at this fountain, and shows, in his earlier writings especially, the influence of his imperial predecessor.  Mr. Long reminds us that this was one of the two books which Captain John Smith, the hero of young Virginia, selected for his daily use.  Unlike the generality of John Smiths and of modern Virginians, the brave soldier found here a kindred spirit.

The Christian world possesses in its Bible a record of Semitic piety whose genuine utterances will never be surpassed; but when the Vulgate of the Aryan races shall be published, these confessions of a noble soul will claim a prominent place among its scriptures.

Levana; or, The Doctrine of Education. Translated from the German of JEAN PAUL FRIEDRICH RICHTER.  Boston:  Ticknor & Fields.

We call to mind certain phrases wherein the critic may honestly express satisfaction that a portion of the world’s plastic stock of useful knowledge has been skilfully manipulated into a volume.  Truly, none of them will do for this sweetest household blossom of a commanding intellect.  We have poetry too discursively brilliant for the trammels of verse, eloquence which has drawn its materials from the purest sources, and instructiveness running into sparkling effusions or soaring in aerial fancies.  It is hard to speak adequately of this delicious, accidental “Levana.”  It is no schoolmaster’s manual, no elaborated system set to snap like a spring-trap upon the heads of incautious meddlers,—­it is only the very aroma of the married life of a wise and tender poet.