MERCANTILE MISCELLANIES.

NEW YORK MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION.

THE Twenty-third Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Mercantile Library Association, read by the president on the evening of the 9th of January, 1844, has been published, which, together with the treasurer's report, proceedings of the annual meeting, and a list of the members, occupies thirty octavo pages. The report is able and interesting, and breathes throughout a liberal and enlightened spirit. The twenty-second annual report states the aggregate number of members to be three thousand three hundred and seventy-two. From this number, deducting the stockholders of Clinton Hall Association, who, though entitled to the privilege of the library, are not members, two hundred and ninety-two, and honorary members one hundred and fifty, leaves the num ber of paying members, as stated in the previous report, two thousand nine hundred and thirty. From this number, deduct withdrawals in 1843, and accounts closed, which expired in 1842 and 1843, in accordance with an article in the constitution, in all one thousand one hundred and eighty-one, leaving one thousand seven hundred and fortynine members, to which add the new members of the past year, and we have at the present time two thousand five hundred and one paying members. The present num. ber of honorary members is one hundred and fifty-six; stockholders of Clinton Hall Association two hundred and ninety-two. From the treasurer's report, it appears that the receipts for the year ending September 31, 1843, have been $4,355, and the expenditures $4,466. Four hundred and twenty-one volumes have been added to the library during the past year, by purchase, and forty-four by donation; making a total, taking the statement of 1842 as a basis, of twenty-five thousand one hundred and forty-nine volumes. We annex a list of the officers for 1844, elected at the annual meeting, as follows:

Charles E. Milnor, President; John C. Clark, Vice President; George Grundy, Corresponding Secretary; Charles M. Wheatley, Recording Secretary; Benjamin P. Kissam, Treasurer. Anthony Halsey, Roswell E. Lockwood, Elias B. Mullany, John Loines, Henry K. Bull, John H. Earle, Cornelius L. Everitt, Directors.

MERCANTILE LIBRARY COMPANY OF PHILADELPHIA.

The Directors of this Association, in their Twenty-first Annual Report, presented at a meeting of the stockholders, January 9th, 1844, advert with high gratification to the continued prosperity of the Association. They say, with justice, that the proudest anticipations of its enlightened founders, must be more than realized by its present attitude, and the great power for usefulness, which it exerts in the city of its location. Nearly a quarter of a century has elapsed since the institution was established. A few hundred volumes, at the commencement, have swelled into nearly nine thousand valuable works; and the records exhibit the gratifying fact, that the entire library is taken out for perusal in every year. The number of volumes added, since the former report, is four hundred and nineteen. The number taken out for perusal, ten thousand two hundred and sixty. It is also supplied with twenty magazines and other periodicals. The treasurer's report, exhibiting the fiscal affairs of the company, shows the disbursements during 1843, for books and periodicals, to be $879 43, and ordinary expenses $1,405 85, and the receipts from fines, contributions, dividends, &c., $2,210 88; leaving at the present time in the treasury, and in investment at interest, the sum of $3,725 46, which can be made immediately available for building, or other purposes. It is contemplated to erect a building expressly for the use of this Association, and from the spirit evinced by the

Association, no doubt is entertained that this object, so desirable, will be accomplished. The following gentlemen compose the list of officers for 1844:—

Thomas P. Cope, President; John Fausset, Treasurer; John J. Thompson, Secretary; James Cox, Librarian. Thomas P. Cope, Isaac Barton, Charles S. Wood, Joseph Patterson, Robert F. Walsh, Joseph C. Grubb, J. L. Erringer, J. J. Thompson, William L. Schaffer, William E. Bowen, J. V. Williamson, C. H. Welling, Marmaduke Moore, Directors.

MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF BALTIMORE.

We have received from the President of this Association, the Fourth Annual Report of the Board of Directors. It is a brief but business-like document, furnishing a comprehensive view of the management and condition of the institution during the past year, with such suggestions as occurred to the directors while officially charged with the conduct of its business. Though the Association has not increased in point of numerical strength, during the year ending November 9th, 1843, yeɩ its general condition is one of soundness, strength, and prosperity. On the whole, it has much cause to consider it. self fortunate, as from its foundation to the present time, it has gone steadily forward in its career. The number of active members, at the date of the third annual report, was three hundred and twelve; from this number, sixty-seven are deducted for resignations, and twenty-nine for transfers to the honorary members book, leaving two hundred and sixteen names on the roll; the number of members added the present year is eighty-seven, making a total of three hundred and three members. "Unless," says the report, "the Association continues to increase for at least four years more, at something near the rate of the first three years of its existence, it will not adequately represent the strength of the class of which its active membership is composed, nor though more rapidly in its rising will it be comparatively as strong as its sister Association in New York, which counts fourteen times our strength in a city of little more than three times the population of our own." The number of books in the library, according to the last report, was two thousand eight hundred and ten; the number, at present, is three thousand six hundred and ten; making an increase during the year of eight hundred vol. umes. Of this number, five hundred and thirteen have been purchased, two hundred and fifty-four presented, and thirty-three volumes of periodicals and papers bound. From the treasurer's report, we learn that the total revenue from actual and honorary subscriptions, lectures, and other sources, amounted to $1,936 90, which, with the balance remaining on hand from last year, made a total of $2,141 63. Of this sum, there was expended for books, periodicals, and binding, $640 64, and for rent, salary, furni. ture, &c., $1,149 79, leaving a cash balance of $351 22. The Association has besides a fund of $500, set apart for contingencies during the second year of its existence, and invested in city stock. The amount received from the sale of tickets to the lectures, was $1,522; of which, $607 was paid lecturers, and for other expenses $514, leaving a profit of $100. We are gratified to notice the name of our worthy friend, W. G. Ly. ford, Esq., editor of the Commercial Journal, added to the list of honorary members, a tribute of respect eminently due to that gentleman, in consideration of his services to the commercial community, as well as for good offices rendered the Association on various occasions. The following gentlemen were elected officers of this Association for the term of one year, from November 10th, 1843:

Charles Bradenbaugh, President; Upton H. Stephens, Vice President; Joseph T. England, Corresponding Secretary; John K. Carrington, Recording Secretary; Robert H. Lowry, Treasurer. Henry Winter, George F. Thomas, John J. Wight, Henry E. Thomas, Edmund Jacobsen, H. Ballard Johnston, John R. Lowe, Directors.

THE BOOK TRADE.

1.-Letters of Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford, to Sir Thomas Mann, His Britannic Majesty's Resident to the Court of Florence, from 1760 to 1785. Now first published from the original MSS. Concluding series. In 2 volumes. Vol. 1, 8vo., pp. 421. Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard.

In 1842, the enterprising publishers of the present volume reprinted from the London edition the first series of Walpole's letters, in four large and handsome octavo volumes. In presenting these new letters, they state that the second volume may be shortly expect. ed, which will complete the series to Horace Mann; and that, in bringing them out in this form, it has been their desire that the purchasers of the four previous volumes should be able to complete their sets in a form to match. To those who have read the former series, we need say nothing in the way of commendation; but to those who have not, it will, we presume, be satisfactory to know that but one opinion is entertained by those at the head of literary criticism in England. We consider them models of epistolary writing, abounding in proofs of the author's intimate perceptions of human nature, and his clear views of public affairs. They are full of wit, pleasantry, and information, and written with singular neatness and sprightliness.

2.-The Various Writings of Cornelius Matthews; embracing the Motley Book, Behemoth, the Politicians, Poems on Man in the Republic, Wakendah, Puffer Hopkins, Miscellanies, Selections from Arcturus, and International Copyright. 8vo., pp. 370. New York: Harper & Brothers.

The present volume embraces the complete works of Mr. Matthews, which have before been published in various forms, and widely circulated. These writings have been exposed on the one hand to unjust criticism, and on the other to extravagant praise. Mr. M., however, holds a clever pen; and many of the papers are in a vein of quiet humor, and at the same time free from that disgusting vulgarity supposed by some to be an indispensable requisite of wit. There is considerable force in the arguments adduced in the speech and lecture at the close of the volume, in favor of an international copyright, but not enough to convince us either of the justice or expediency of the measure. We have no idea that, if adopted, it would benefit American authors a penny; and sure are we that a large majority of the American people would be deprived, in a great measure, of those inspirations of genius bestowed on the gifted for the benefit of the many. 3.-Endeavors after the Christian Life. A Volume of Discourses. By JAMES MARTINEAU. 12mo., pp. 291. Boston: James Munroe & Co.

It is refreshing, in the midst of the sectarian controversies of the time, to take up a work pregnant with the inner heart of human life and faith. Those who, in devout reading of books and men, look rather for that which is Christian, than that which talks of Christianity, will find in this volume no faint impression of the religion by which all should desire to live and die. The discourses in the volume have no formal connection, but were prepared at different times, and "in different moods of meditation ;" and are related to each other only by their common direction towards the great end of responsible existence. Without any apparent effort for effect in style, they are at once models of elegant and graceful composition.

4.--Sacred Biography; or, the History of the Patriarchs. To which is added, the History of Deborah, Ruth, and Hannah, and also the History of Jesus Christ. Being a Course of Lectures delivered in the Scotch Church, London-Wall. By HENRY HUNTER, D. D. In one volume, 8vo., pp. 596. New York: Harper & Brothers. A new edition of an old and popular work. It is too well known in the religious world to require any other notice than the mere announcement of its appearance in the present neat and attractive garb.

5.-Benthamiana; or, Select Extracts from the Works of Jeremy Bentham. With an Outline of his opinions on the Principal Subjects discussed in his Works. Edited by JOHN HILL BURTON, Advocate. 12mo., pp. 446. Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard. This handsomely printed volume contains several hundred extracts from the voluminous works of the utilitarian philosopher. The brilliant wit, the lively illustration, the spirited eloquence, and the expressive clearness in many of the passages embraced in this collection, are scarcely excelled by any writer in the English language. Several of the passages in this selection contain pretty ample illustrations of the author's method of reasoning, and of the conclusions to which he arrived on many of the subjects which he most prominently discussed.

6.-The Poetical Works of Thomas Moore. Collected by himself. Complete in one volume. 18mo., pp. 518. Philadelphia: Carey & Hart.

The American publishers have compressed in one volume the entire contents of the London edition, in ten volumes. To each are prefixed autobiographical sketches, and anecdotes connected with the poems in that volume; and, in order to present these in their proper connection, and elucidate clearly the author's allusions, they have marked 'the beginning of each volume of the English edition, adopting Mr. Moore's arrangements throughout the entire work. At the close, are several pages of songs and pieces which have been omitted in the London edition, which render the present the most complete yet published.

7.-Lectures on Christian Doctrine. By ANDREW P. PEABODY, Pastor of the South Church, Portsmouth, N. H. 12mo., pp. 227. Boston: James Munroe & Co. These lectures, we are informed in the brief preface, are not offered to the public as a full compend of Christian doctrine, or as a fair exhibition of the positive side of the author's own faith; but simply as a discussion of the prominent points at issue between the Unitarian and the Calvinistic portion of the Christian church. The object of the author, as stated in the opening lecture, is to exhibit a fair and candid view of the points in which Unitarians differ from other Christians, and of the grounds on which their pe culiar views rest. Reference is of course made to the creeds of others, but generally in a kindly tone and manner.

8.-Letters on the Ministry, Ritual, and Doctrines of the Protestant Episcopal Church, addressed to the Rev. William E. Wyatt, D. D., Associate Minister of St. Paul's Parish, Baltimore, &c. By JARED SPARKS, formerly Minister of the First Independent Church of Baltimore. 12mo., pp. 240. Boston: James Munroe & Co. These letters were elicited by a sermon of Dr. Wyatt, exhibiting some of the principal doctrines of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, several years since, and are, of course, of a controversial character, but are written in a very catholic and liberal spirit. The subjects discussed are the ministry, ritual, and authority of the church in controversies of faith; the doctrinal character of the thirty-nine articles; the doctrine of the Trinity, as held by the Episcopal Church, &c. The high moral and intellectual character, as well as critical acumen of the author, will doubtless secure for the work the candid perusal of many who may not assent to the force of his arguments, or the correctness of his conclusions.

NEW YORK BOOK-TRADE SALE.

The thirty-ninth semi-annual sale of Messrs. Bangs, Richards & Platt, will commence on Tuesday, the 26th of March, and continue until the close of the week. The catalogue (of one hundred and fifty six octavo pages) contains an unusually valuable collection of new and standard works in every department of literature and science, stationery, plates, &c. In running over the catalogue, we notice contributions from all the leading publishers and booksellers in the United States, who generally attend these sales; which, it affords us pleasure to say, are conducted by the present worthy and intelligent proprietors in a manner that gives universal satisfaction to all concerned.

[We give below a list of the works published in pamphlet form since the commencement of the present year. These works crowd upon us so fast, that we have been compelled to adopt the plan of giving the title-page in full, number of pages, name of the publishers, &c. In this way, we shall be able hereafter to notice all the works of this class that we receive, without encroaching upon the original design of our Journal. The plan will, we have no doubt, prove satisfactory to the publishers of cheap literature, and the readers of the Merchants' Magazine, inasmuch as it will furnish a catalogue of nearly all the new works that appear. It will be seen that most of the works, the titles of which are given below, are reprints of English literature, or translations from foreign languages.]

1.-Tables of Interest, determining, by means of Logestic Squares, the Interest in every Whole Sum up to Ten Thousand Dollars, for any length of time not exceeding four hundred days, at the Rates of Six and Seven per cent. New York: Wiley & Putnam.

2.-Arabella Stuart. A Romance from English History. By G. P. R. JAMES, Esq., author of "Darnley," " Morley Ernstein," "The False Heir," etc. No. 26"Library of Select Novels." 8vo., pp. 142. New York: Harper & Brothers.

3.-Mr. Cheever's Lectures on the Pilgrim's Progress, and on the Life and Times of John Bunyan. Nos. 1, 2, and 3. pp. 132. New York: Wiley & Putnam. 1844.

4.-New Sketches of Every-Day Life. A Diary. Together with Strife and Peace. By FREDERIKA BREMER. Translated by MARY HOWITT. 8vo., pp. 134. New York: Harper & Brothers.

5.-The Mothers of England: their Influence and Responsibility. By MRS. ELLIS, author of "The Women of England," "Sons of the Soil," The Wives of England," etc. 8vo., pp. 122. New York: Henry G. Langley.

6.-The Ministry of Men in the Economy of Grace, and the Danger of Overvaluing it. A Sermon preached before the University of Oxford, October 25th, 1840. By EDWARD HAWKINS, D. D., Provost of Oriel College, and Canon of Rochester. 8vo., pp. 41. New York: D. Appleton & Co.

7-£ S. D. Treasure Trove. A Tale. By SAMUEL LOVER, Esq., author of "Handy Andy," "Rory O'More," etc. 8vo., pp. 173. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 8.-The American in Paris during the Summer. A Picture of Parisian Life in the Court, the Salons, and the Family Circle; its Sports, Amusements, and Festivities. By JULES JANIN. 8vo., pp. 117. New York: Burgess, Stringer & Co.

9.-The Yemassee. A Romance of Carolina. By W. G. SIMMS, LL. D., author of "Guy Rivers," "Martin Faber," etc. In 2 vols. Harper's Pocket Edition of Select Novels, 18mo., pp. 222 and 242. New York: Harper & Brothers.

10.-St. Patrick's Purgatory. An Essay on the Purgatory, Hell, and Paradise, current during the Middle Ages. By THOMAS WRIGHT, M. A., F. R. S. 8vo., pp. 88. New York: J. Winchester.

11.-El Dorado; being a Narrative of the Circumstances which gave rise to Reports, in the Fif teenth Century, of a Splendid City in South America, to which that name was given, and which led to many enterprises in search of it; including a Defence of Sir Walter Raleigh, in regard to the relations made by him respecting it, and a Nation of Female Warriors, in the vicinity of the Amazon, etc. With a Map. By J. A. VAN HEUVEL. 8vo, pp. 153. New York: J. Winchester.

12.-Memoirs of Silvio Pellico; or, My Prisons. Translated from the Italian. By M. J. SMEAD, and H. P. LEFEBRE. New York: Henry G. Langley.

13.-A Biography of John Randolph of Roanoke, with a Selection from his Speeches. By LEMUEL SAWYER, formerly of North Carolina, and for sixteen years an associate in Congress with Mr. Randolph. 8vo., pp. 132. New York: Burgess, Stringer & Co. 14-The Kitchen Directory, and American Housewife; containing the most Valuable and Original Receipts in all the various branches of Cookery, together with a Collection of Miscel laneous Receipts, etc. 12mo., pp. 144. Mark H. Newman.

15.-The Hierarchical Despotism. Lectures on the Mixture of Civil and Ecclesiastical Power in the Government of the Middle Ages, in illustration of the Nature and Progress of Despotism in the Romish Church. By Rev. GEORGE B. CHEEVER. 12mo., pp. 120. New York: Saxton & Miles.

16.-Travels in the Californias, and Scenes in the Pacific Ocean. By THOMAS J. FARNHAM, author of "Travels in the Great Western Prairies," etc. 8vo., pp. 96. New York: Saxton & Miles. 1844.

17. The Salamander. A Naval Romance. By EUGENE SUE. Translated from the French. By HENRY WILLIAM HERBERT, author of “Cromwell," "The Brothers,” etc. 8vo., pp. 115 New York: J. Winchester.

18.-The Female Blue-Beard; or, Le Morne au Diable, By EUGENE SUE, author of the "Mysteries of Paris." 8vo., pp. 115. New York: J. Winchester.

19.-Colonel de Surville, A Tale of the Empire-1810. By EUGENE SUE. Translated from the French by THOMAS POOLEY, Esq. 8vo., pp. 60. New York: J. Winchester. 20.-Charles de Bourbon, Lord Constable of France. A Historical Romance. By ALPHONSE ROGER. Translated from the French. By EDWARD S. GOULD. 8vo. New York: J. Winchester.