BOOKS.

!:;IT.IIBitwomeies EXPERIENCE IN AMERICA.. Miwuvemeiniaro the number of travels in America, Marianne lettokis in some matters an informing as well as an agree- athltoaelilition te the number; because it is in the words of PUtatitleilan—Englishwonlan's experience. Miss Martineau has gjaIMPItithe h&c view of matters, and several ladies have presented 10elpeetieia1.aketch of manners; but the present writer has more of 41A3'prig6 national female character. There is, indeed, a certain ilegne of demonstrativeness, which shows itself in a little exube- reeteleAf writing, eepecially on the "horrors of the middle passage," peeLelew,other topics. The fair traveller has a turn for philan- thropy, or, to speak in the style of the day, for the progress of man-

nit i ki he takes an interest n slavery, prison- discipline, and the

• forms of Communism ; which last have a fairer scope among themippprepriated soil aml freedom of action of America than they @sin haetein the old countries of Europe. Marianne Finch has an geoetifflie,publie men and social peculiarities, without giving them eeenuclue.prominence, or treating them like a female politician. filieLlias moreover a woman's love of gatherings, from a , sight " epeermon ; and is of an active turn and an inquiring mind, 3eitli less of preconceived notions than many who have crossed thq ;Atlantic. Somewhat too much of common history and of calen- des Rts,tioties are introduced-: but in speaking of the American leiltemoephoses from wilderness to cities, such topics are with diffi- emleYJe.voided, and they are presented with brevity. ,x.,great novelty about America is not to be expected, and rtilLiglot be found in Marianne Finch, except in the smaller mat- tete .etLeenvention. But we get a closer, a more inner view of 41011yrithiugs ; or doubtful-looking things are confirmed. The elledet,of Lord Sydenham's correspondence may remember his il- lust,ration of American delicacy in languageand in fact; while the contrast between affectation and reality is a fertile topic for Sam Slick. The following, from a Western steamer, though not in the far West, is the strongest we have met with. "The following morning, at about eleven o'clock, we embarked in the steaawr for Cincinnati. It was so crowded, that at night, I, with seventeen othetk had to sleep on the floor in the ladies' cabin. While preparing for if 'Oath, I saw a man's face in one of the openings that are left over the -room doors for ventilation. I pointed this out to the lady who was to shammy mattress. She coolly continued her disrobement, saying,

" What a shame for him to look out there !'

"'What business has he in there ?' said I.

"'I guess hie wife's there, or else he wouldn't,' she replied. "'What! are the married men accommodated in the ladies' cabin ? ' said I, suarivised. "Nat in the cabin,' she said ; 'but, if their wives are with them, in the state-rooms opening out of it.' '

Which is pretty nearly the same thing,' said I, as two gentlemen en- toted awl walked round the apartment in search of their dormitories, while Ariinformant was in garments that, doubtless, she would have fainted to hlYe= heard named before ears masculine. &However, she did not lose her consciousness at appearing in them be- fgajeLe5eti of that gender; indeed, seemed less shocked at that than in hear- Englishwoman announce the birth of a nephew by saying that her confined,' which she thought a very indelicate way of communi- t interesting fact."

the subject of manners we may take an instance of another onal peen 'arity—american " clearing: in a new sense. "ft)j our return to Boston, by the evening train, I use most unfor- tlinfifely located in a group of expectorating gentlemen, whom it pleased my eviilcgemus to keep near me all the way back. • In Vain I opened the window, ktpang-to,drive there-to a warmer latitude : no vacancy occurred in those re- : tg, idso I was obliged to reconcile myself to becoming a peninsula in a sea • 4.acco-juice—too-happy if I could keep it out of my face, which was I • I peril, from one of this chewing fraternity squirting past me through therilibu window. Luckily, he was always successful in his aims, and 'steal-ea' me and the window. I suppose it was confidence in his own skill that:prevented- him from reassuring me, when I shrunk back, as a gentle- man with iimikir aims did a friend of mine, who sat between him and a eeicli-window : observing she was a little nervous when the filthy missile passedlior, he said kindly, 'Don't trouble, ma'am, I guess I can clear you.'" Ikilkei.,Rplazky, our tourist seems to hold that the Fugitive Slave Law will defeat its own ends, by presenting slavery bodily in its most revolting aspect, to a large mass who otherwise might never think about it. "Respectable people," however, even in the New England States would seem anxious to give the act a fair trial, or.rawt 019 dismiss the whole subject. Although a pretty constant at upon different divines, Marianne Finch never but twice wy alluded to in the pulpit, even in the intellectual city once by a leader of the new sect of lJniversalists, the by Theodore Parker. by Winer the Universalist] is the only time I heard this tabooed sdlijeefilietitioned in the pulpit, except by Theodore Parker ; who, when the bill Air detaining-fugitive slaves was passed into law, mentioned it on the folliming Sunday morning, after the sermon ; saying he did not consider him- self bound to obey this iniquitous law ; that there were nearly five hundred fiiitie,slay,9,inatoston, Whom he would assist by every means in his power; anfl_tkot hrhotealliere were many in that audience with manliness enough tfri10 nib sadie. The audience testified their approbation of his sentiments, brikfiet him a round of applause."

-])siring her residence in the Eastern States, the question of WO: Mates rights, and the society established for advocating that subject' Were a topic which agitated the public mind. That pdtietrated the pulpit ; the preachers in favour of slavery also op- posing the rights of women. "During the winter of 1851 there were two or three texts that seemed especial favourites with many of the American divines, viz.—' Servants be * An Englishwoman's Experience in America. By Marianne Finch. Published by Bentley.

obedient to your masters.' 'Wives , 'submit yourselves to your husbands.' Let your women learn in silence.' • • • • "rwas much edified by listening to another of these 'shining lights' who was suspected of a leaning towards the Papacy and a, wish to exalt the Virgin Mary. To exculpate himself from the latter charge, he preached a sermon on the subject, in which, after condemning the homage rendered to the Virgin by the Church of Rome, he pointed out the subordinate position i

she occupied n the Church of England; observing, that her place in the lat- ter was more in accordance with her sex, and the wishes of her Son, who ' always ' as he said, kept his blessed mother in the background ; the more effectually, 813 it seemed, to rivet the attention of the public on himself.'" The country travelled through by Marianne Finch was exten- sive, reaching on the Atlantic from New Brunswick to Baltimore, and across the Alleghenies from Cincinnati to Niagara. /ler ac- count of the sluggishness of the British Province presents a striking contrast to the life of the States ; but there seems more of Old England about it, such as England was in the days of antique stage-coaches.

'The next morning, after driving round the town, and a few miles on the St. Andrew's and Quebec Railway, we proceeded to Chamcook, about four miles distant; the residence of our friend Mr. W—, or the 'Squire,' as he is there called.

"It is a low, handsome-looking house on the side of a thickly-wooded hill, at the foot of which is the new railroad; beyond that the bay of Chamcook, which empties itself through a navigable channel into the Bay of Fundy. "On entering this mansion, you find yourself in a large square hall, fur- nihed with chairs and tables, and a log fire crackling and blazing in the cen- tre. A door on the right leads into the family sitting-room, one on the left into the kitchen. Everybody seems to go in and out of these aapart- mentswithout distinction of persons ; any one requiring especial privacy goes into the library.

"The hospitality of this place seems claimed by all; and the cares and attentions of its mistress, like the rain and the sunshine, fall on the poor and the rich. It is a kind of hospitality I never met with before, except in Scott's novels ; and where hotels are scarce, and none of the best, it is very valuable. * •

"At the end of a week, three of us took leave of our kind hosts, and pro- ceeded across the country to St. John's. I had been on the confines of the middle ages for some days; but this journey seemed to take me quite into them. To think, in America, where messages are sent by lightning at the rate of two thousand miles an hour (including delays), that there should be a city where gas-light and coaches are unknown ; and that to leave it by land you must commence your journey before daybreak, in an open waggon, with a basket of provisions, and your head wrapped up in a shawl, as I did on this 25th of October! Nevertheless, I enjoyed it exceedingly. The fresh air, and the novelty of this mode of travelling, made ample amends for any defiateacy

in luxuzies. * •

"When walking about this place, I was struck with its general expres- sion; so different from the smart 'wide-awake' look of a town in the State:. Neither had it the settled smoky respectability of one in England, but rather a shabby broken-down aspect. There are few people in the shops; men walk leisurely through the streets ; and no one seems in a hurry about any- thing."

There is a good deal of information, perhaps a little couleur de rose, on Communism of various kinds, from the Shakere, who pro- fess an extreme celibacy, to Phalanstery, which lives in common, but puts a sort of price upon labour in proportion to skill and the work done. The societies our traveller visited were all doing well in a material point of view, though members were fre- quently quitting : but what can be done in America with plenty of cheap land, and a full demand for the products of labour, is no criterion for a country in perhaps the " stationary " condition. She also visited some cotton-factories on the "limited responsi- bility principle," or partnership en comity:indite ; and they were flourishing. For these subjects, however, we must refer our read- ers to the book.