HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. VOLUME II. DECEMBER, 1850, TO MAY, 1851. NEW YORK: HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 329 & 331 PEARL STREET, FRANKLIN SQUARE. 1851. ADVERTISEMENT. In bringing the SECOND VOLUME of the NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE to a close, the Publishers would avail themselves of the occasion, to express their profound appreciation of the favor with which it has been received, and their earnest wish to render it still more deserving of the enlightened patronage of the American community. They commenced the publication with the firm conviction that it could be made the medium of valuable information and mental enjoyment to the great mass of readers, and that it would accordingly be sustained by their generous and cordial support. Nor have they been deceived in their anticipations. The Magazine has found a wider circulation with every monthly issue. The encomiums with which it has been welcomed by the universal voice of the press, and the verdict of intelligent readers, are a gratifying proof that the Publishers have succeeded in their endeavor to adapt it to the wants of the public mind. Encouraged by the experience of the first year of this extensive literary enterprise, they are determined to spare no effort to insure the succeeding volumes of the Magazine a still wider and more favorable reception among all classes of readers. They intend it to be a strictly national work. Devoted to no local interests, pledged to no religious sect or political party, connected with no favorite movement of the day, except the diffusion of intelligence, virtue, and patriotism, it will continue to be conducted with the impartiality and good faith, which it is equally the duty, the inclination, and the interest of the Publishers to maintain. In addition to the choicest productions of the English press, the Magazine will be enriched with such original matter as in their opinion will enhance its utility and attractiveness. The embellishments will be furnished by distinguished artists, and selected no less for their permanent value as vehicles of agreeable instruction than for the gratification of an æsthetic taste. With the ample literary, artistic, and mechanical resources which the Publishers have enlisted in the NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE, and their ambition to give it a character of genuine, substantial, reliable excellence in every department, they may assure its wide circle of patrons that its subsequent issues will more than justify the distinguished reputation which it has attained at this early period of its existence. CONTENTS OF VOLUME II.