everything is the accumulation of a few
days. The water did not enter the fort until the levee had been
broken by the bombs; during the summer of 1861, when the
Mississippi was even higher, the parade ground remained entirely
dry.'

The above statistics and information show, that the surrender of the
forts was caused by the terrific bombardment of the mortar fleet, a fact
which should always remain identified with the brilliant achievements,
that ended in the recapture of the second commercial city of our
country.

REASON, RHYME, AND RHYTHM.

All arts are one, howe'er distributed they stand,
Verse, tone, shape, color, form, are fingers on one hand.'

INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME FIRST.

The first volume of this work contains an inquiry into the principles of
art, and an attempt to present a rational solution of the delight felt
in the contemplation of Beauty. The related thoughts upon art and
beauty, found scattered almost at random over so many pages, and in so
many different tongues, have been brought together, and, closely linked
in logical sequences, placed in such connections that they now mutually
illustrate and corroborate one another. No longer drifting apart in the
bewildering chaos of multitudinous pages, they now revolve round a
common centre, the heart of all artistic beauty, through whose
manifestations alone it gains its power to charm the human soul: viz.,
'the infinite attributes of the Author of all true Beauty.'

These thoughts on Art and Beauty have been carefully compiled,
condensed, and arranged from many writers of eminence: Tissandier,
Ruskin, Schlegel, etc., etc.; and are interwoven with much original
matter, placing their great truths in new relations, and developing
their complex meanings. By working up _with them_ the thoughts suggested
_by them_, the author has sedulously endeavored to form them into a
whole of higher power.

The first volume being devoted to the theory of art, an attempt has been
made in the second to bring the more general thoughts to a focus, and
concentrate their light upon the vexed and confused subject of
versification. The second volume may indeed be considered as a 'Manual
of Rhythm,' for the most _practical_ rules are given for its
construction and criticism, and simple and natural solutions offered of
its apparent irregularities and anomalies; while examples of sufficient
length are cited from our most musical poets to give just