* * * * *

Miss Cooper, a daughter of the great novellist, has been announced in
London as the author of "Rural Hours," a volume to be published in two
or three weeks by Bentley, and by our Aldus, Mr. Putnam. We have read
and in this number of the _International_ give some extracts from
the advance sheets of "Rural Hours," and we think the work will be
regarded as one of the most pleasing and elegant contributions which
woman has in a long time made to English literature. It is in the form
of a year's diary in the country, and it illustrates on almost every
page a large and wise cultivation, and the finest capacities for the
observation of nature. We shall hereafter enter more fully into the
discussion of its merits, but meanwhile advise the reader to obtain
the book as soon as possible, in confidence that it will prove one of
the most delightful souvenirs of the summer.

* * * * *

Prof. Agassiz of Harvard College appears in the last number of
the _Christian Examiner_--an able periodical, which no degree or
affectation of "liberality" should have tempted to the admission of
such a paper--in an elaborate argument against the Unity of the Human
Race. It is ridiculous to attempt a disguise of this matter: the
proposition of Prof. Agassiz is an attack upon the Christian religion,
and he is guilty of scandalous dishonesty in endeavoring to evade
its being so considered. He has undoubtedly a right to pursue any
investigation to which he may be led by a love of science, and,
guarding himself about with humility and candor, he has a right to
accept the results which may be offered in the premises by a careful
induction. But the right to assail the commonly received opinions of