The Expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. Dido Part 30

Paul Jones will always be regarded as one of the most daring and gallant heroes who ever made the ocean the theater of their exploits. Such a name can never be forgotten by Americans, nor can the services which he rendered to the cause of American liberty, in its infant struggles, ever pa.s.s into oblivion. No better biographer for such a character could have been found than Captain Mackenzie. Familiar with all the details of seamans.h.i.+p, possessing the same bold patriotism which made the career of his hero so ill.u.s.trious, and being an accomplished and vigorous writer, he has given us a most admirable biography.--_Courier and Enquirer._

This is a capital American biography, of an American naval hero, scarcely less renowned and no less gallant and gifted with an heroic spirit than Nelson, the great British admiral. There is scarcely a more stirring life in the whole compa.s.s of literature than that of Jones; and the important part he played in giving force and almost life itself to the American navy, then in its earliest infancy, renders his history peculiarly interesting and attractive. No man certainly ever performed more gallant exploits, and few have rendered more important service to the cause of freedom than he. Many of his actions for bravery, skill, and the performance of almost incredible deeds, by apparently the most inadequate means, are scarcely rivalled by any thing in the records of naval history. His life should be familiar to American readers; and in the elegant, forcible, and graphic style of Commander Mackenzie it can not fail to be universally read.--_True Sun._

We are glad to see the life of this celebrated man by one competent to write it. His adventures border so much on the marvelous that one is glad to be sure of reading only what is authentic, and that written in a style and language becoming the subject. There is a good moral lesson conveyed in this life of Paul Jones.--_Christian Advocate and Journal._

The name and achievements of Paul Jones are indissolubly connected with American history; and his renowned deeds, which made him the terror of the coast of Britain, are among the most romantic in the annals of naval warfare, and impart to this work the highest interest. This is the most complete and authentic biography of Commodore Jones ever published, as all accessible materials have been collected, and are used by Commander Mackenzie with the ability and tact which he possesses as an accomplished scholar and an officer, accomplishments which peculiarly qualify him to write naval biography. A fine portrait of this true naval hero will be found in the first volume.--_Baltimore American._

We have read it with some care, and compared it with other biographies, and think it greatly superior to any yet published. It contains a full narrative of all the important events in Jones's eventful career, and yet is less voluminous than previous works.--_Highland Courier._

VIII.

The Ascent of Mount Ararat,

(ACHIEVED FOR THE FIRST TIME).

BY DR. FRIEDRICH PARROT.

TRANSLATED BY W. D. COOLEY.

12mo, Map and Wood-cuts, Muslin, extra gilt, 50 cents.

This is a most interesting book, both in its description of the country and inhabitants of Central Asia, and in its connection with the remarkable event of our world--_the Flood_. Mount Ararat, which was ascended by M. Parrot, must ever possess to the Biblical reader most intense interest, as the resting place of the ark after the universal deluge.--_Pittsburgh Chronicle._

A work destined, from the intrinsic interest of the subject, and the fullness of detail which is spread before the reader, to a very wide circulation. The idea of ascending Mount Ararat seems to have risen with the traveler to a pa.s.sion; previous travelers had never accomplished it; the natives of the region looked upon it as impossible; their superst.i.tion regarded the inaccessible summit as the mysterious resting place of the ark to this day. How Dr. Parrot approached the region, what adventures he met with by the way, what manners and customs he witnessed, how he twice essayed to reach the sacred peak and turned back, and how on a third attempt he accomplished the feat through difficulties the recital of which has led scientific men still to doubt if the ascent were really performed--may all be read in this compact volume, ill.u.s.trated by maps and engravings, with every aid to the reader's comprehension.--_News._

Hardly a subject could have been selected more stirring in its character than "A Journey to Ararat." Held in equal veneration by Jew, Christian, and Mohammedan, and regarded with superst.i.tious feelings even by the pagan, that mountain has always enjoyed a degree of celebrity denied to any other. Sinai, and h.o.r.eb, and Tabor may have excited holier musings; but Ararat "the mysterious"--Ararat, which human foot had not trod after the restorer of our race, and which, in the popular opinion, no human foot would be permitted to tread till the consummation of all things--Ararat the holy, which winged cherubim protected against the sacrilegious approach of mortals, and which patriarchs only were permitted to revisit, appeared in many respects an object of curiosity as unique as it was exciting.--_London Athenaeum._

It is a highly entertaining work, embodying much historical, geographical, and scientific information, and conveying a knowledge of the character, habits, and manners of the people among whom the author traveled. The ascent of Mount Ararat is so very difficult that many persons have doubted whether the feat was accomplished by Dr. Parrot, but his acknowledged integrity ought to place his claims in this respect above suspicion. The lovers of bold adventure will find in this volume much to gratify their peculiar taste, and the general reader can hardly fail to be pleased with it.--_New York Tribune._

This volume has claims upon the public, as a scientific and truly valuable work, which have been possessed by few others. It is, in fact, the condensed narrative of an exploring expedition sent out by the Russian government into the region about Mount Ararat, a region which possesses more interest for scientific men, perhaps, than any other in the world which has been so little explored.--_New York Courier._

It reads more like the travels of Von Humboldt than any book we have lately read. The writer is a man of science and observation, and the book we recommend to the public.--_Lowell Courier._

IX.

Remarkable Criminal Trials.

TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF FEUERBACH,

BY LADY DUFF GORDON.

12mo, Muslin, extra gilt, 50 cents.

A book of thrilling interest; one that can not fail to be read with avidity.--_New York Courier._

This work abounds with singular cases of criminal jurisprudence in Bavaria, of the most astounding and thrilling interest, the details of which are of remarkable character, and differ essentially from those hitherto familiar to the public in England or this country. They are fully equal, in their absorbing interest, to any thing in the famous "Causes Celebres" of France; and, perhaps, for their unique and striking features, are unexcelled by any delineations of crime elsewhere on record.--_True Sun._

Public attention was first drawn to this work by an able and interesting article in the Edinburgh Review. They are all narratives of marvelous interest--more strange and wonderful, many of them, than any work of fiction, and giving to the reader a clear view of the nature and peculiarities of the criminal jurisprudence of Germany.--_N. Y. Commercial Advertiser._

Its ill.u.s.tration of the many curious customs of German criminal jurisprudence will be sufficiently startling to the English reader; but, apart from this, the extraordinary subtle discrimination thrown into the narrative of each particular crime gives to the volume, as a mere story book, the intellectual interest, the pa.s.sion, and all the rich and various coloring of a philosophical romance. The translation is excellent, and a judicious compression of the original has added much to the effect.--_London Examiner._

The narratives abound with thrilling interest, setting forth the constant recurrence of crime, detection, and punishment, in which the attention of the reader is roused by the novelty of the scene, and rewarded by the light thrown upon the darkest portion of human nature.--_New Bedford Mercury._

This work has been so highly extolled by the Edinburgh Foreign Quarterly and other reviews, that not much need be said of its character and claims to public notice. It presents some of the most remarkable stories of horrible crimes and their exposure we have ever met, and gives a very clear and vivid conception of the peculiarities of German criminal jurisprudence. It is a book which will be universally read, as one of the most thrilling and absorbing interest. The translator has given in the preface a very good account of the criminal law of Germany, and has selected only those portions of the original work which will have the greatest value and interest.--_Mirror._

This book is of an entirely different character from works of a similar t.i.tle that have hitherto appeared. It contains an account of fourteen trials for murder in Germany, and the object of it is to show the peculiar mode of trial inst.i.tuted by the Bavarian code.--_Evening Gazette._

The records of crime are not usually a profitable kind of reading. The contagion of the example is generally greater than the warning of the fate of the criminal; and many a villain has been made by the very means taken to keep him from crime. But as much depends on the manner of the narrative, and as it is possible to extract some of the gravest lessons of virtue and wisdom from the misdeeds of others, it gives us pleasure to state that the present work is unexceptionable in this respect, while the cases possess extraordinary interest, and are replete with instruction. They afford much insight of human motives, and teach impressive lessons of the retributive justice of Providence, and the misery and evil of sin.--_Biblical Repository_.

X., XI.

Journal of Researches

INTO THE NATURAL HISTORY AND GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRIES VISITED DURING THE VOYAGE OF H. M. S. BEAGLE ROUND THE WORLD.