Several of the poetical pieces are beautiful--others, _mediocre_. "October," "Marcelia," "Mother and Child," may be classed among the former; "A Sketch" among the latter. "Scenes from Politian," like the prose productions from the same pen (Mr. Poe) evince great powers, wasted on trifles. Why, (to adopt the catechetical style of his own criticisms,) why does Mr. Poe throw away his strength on shafts and columns, instead of building a temple to his fame? Can he not execute as well as design? No one can doubt it who is conversant with his writings. Eschew affectation, Mr. Poe. It is a blot upon genius as well as upon beauty. "A Broken Heart" contains several tender and pathetic passages, but is deficient as a whole. _Ex gr._: "Friends and physicians Exert their skill most faithfully," is not poetry--but plain, unsophisticated prose. Too much space is allotted to "Critical Notices" in the December No. of the Messenger--and several of the Notices themselves are too dogmatical and flippant. This department of a periodical, on the plan of the Messenger, is necessarily of restricted interest, and should consequently be of proportionate limits, except in extraordinary cases. It certainly should not be occupied by _reviews of Reviews_--a dish of hash newly warmed, and served up, in all its insipidity, to an already palled appetite. Such reviews as that of Mr. Fay's "Norman Leslie" will be read. Men--and Women likewise--will always be attracted in crowds to behold an infliction of the Russian knout or to see a fellow-creature flayed alive. And Mr. Fay--who, by the way, is a great favorite with us--fully deserves a "_blistering_" for putting forth such a book as Norman Leslie. The "Messenger," upon the whole, reflects credit upon Virginia and the entire South. Indeed, several distinguished Northern journals place it at the head of periodical literature in the U. States; a most enviable distinction, when we recollect the eminent names that figure in our Monthlies, both as editors and contributors. Mr. White deserves the thanks of the people of the South for his untiring perseverance and industry, and we are glad to {140} hear that he is receiving them in the most substantial form--to wit, _paying subscribers_. We hope his list will continue to augment, not only because his enterprise deserves remuneration, but because every additional subscriber enables him to make additional exertions to enhance the value of his agreeable and instructive "_Messenger_." _From the New Yorker_.