The New Monthly Magazine

“ It contains on the whole an admirable selection with short lives of the poets, and prefixed to it an essay on poetry containing much valuable criticism. In 1820 he accepted the editorship of the New Monthly Magazine, and in the same year made another tour in Germany. ”

“ In literary circles he was best known in connection with the ‘New Monthly Magazine,’ of which he was editor from Theodore Hook's death in 1841 until the periodical was acquired by W. Harrison Ainsworth in 1853. ”

“ The oldest periodical of its type, it is yet, in each new volume, a new magazine, nor simply because it presents fresh subjects and new pictures, but also, and chiefly, because it steadily advances in the method itself of magazine-making. In a word, the MAGAZINE becomes more and more the faithful mirror of current life and movement. ”

“ We are about to exhibit to our countrymen a new monthly collection, to which the well-deserved popularity of the first undertaking of this kind, has now made it almost necessary to prefix the name of Magazine. There are, already, many such periodical compilations, of which we do not envy the reception, nor shall dispute the excellence. If the nature of things would allow us to indulge our wishes, we should desire to advance our own interest, without lessening that of any other ”

“ Yet our subscription list by no means comports with such a standard of excellence; for the best thing ought certainly to be the best sustained. Although our circulation is fair, it is still far behind that of those periodicals which leave science out or consign it to the department of scraps. Let no one suppose that in helping this Monthly to new readers they are ministering to a speculation; the time is a long way off when a first-class scientific magazine will enrich anybody. ”

“ Magazine Writing.—We know not how we can better evince our appreciation of the kind and flattering comments of a Southern correspondent, who will at once recognize our allusion, than by citing the somewhat kindred remarks of an old and favorite contributor, now passed away from earth. It was a pleasing matter, he said, to sit down with the proper afflatus stirring within him, to write an article for a Magazine. ‘If the work has a general prevalence; if its fame is rife on good men’s tongues, the inspiration is the stronger. ”

“ Our sets of monthlies, bi-monthlies, and semi-monthlies only run back a hundred or two years, therefore—to the joy of librarians, to whom, be it confessed, they bring misery untold.
But in the East, where printing has existed so long that the memory of man goes not to the contrary, it is almost impossible to say how far back was the introduction of the monthly literary magazine. ”

“ In that refined and intellectual city which, be it always recollected, holds up its head in such lofty contempt at the rowdyism of New York, a magazine is published by a gentleman universally esteemed the most respectable publisher in all the United States, called the Atlantic Monthly, and the November number commences with an article on George Sand in that fast style of moral sensualism, ill-copied from French models, which has invaded so much of our own periodical literature. ”

“ The ordinary monthly magazine treats of the leading questions and issues which are engaging the attention of the world for the moment, great inventions, great discoveries, whatever is engrossing the popular mind for the time being, such as flying machines, battleships, sky-scrapers, the opening of mines, the development of new lands, the political issues, views of party leaders, character sketches of distinguished personages, etc. ”

“ The quality of those periodicals which reach great circulation was pointed out as evidence of what the people demand, and we had the most discouraging assurances that they will not sustain a solid and really instructive magazine, which requires them to think. Believing, however, that there are large numbers who would gladly support such a monthly if they could get it, we determined to give them the chance, and have been justified in the result. Our Monthly is not only a success, but it has succeeded on its own merits alone. ”

“ They are gone forth, the Desert's warrior-race,
By stormy lakes to track the elk and roe;
But where art thou, the swift one in the chase,
With thy free footstep and unfailing bow?
Their singing shafts have reach'd the panther's lair,
And where art thou?—thine arrows are not there!
They rest beside their streams—the spoil is won—
They hang their spears upon the cypress-bough,
The night-fires blaze, the hunter's work is done—
They hear the tales of old—and where art thou? ”

“ Time is scant with us, and labor fast and hard. Our editorial friends who have kindly cheered us by applauding 'the outspoken and straightforward young magazine,' will accept our most grateful thanks. It has seldom happened to any journal to be so genially and warmly commended as we have been since our entrance on the stormy field of political discussion. ”

“ If yet, the wilds among,
Our silent hearts may burn,
When the deep mountain-horn hath rung,
And home our steps may turn;
Home! Home!—if still that name be dear,
Praise to the men who perish'd here! ”

“ And the gleam on its path, as its steals away,
Into deeper shades, from the sultry day,
And the large water-lilies that o'er its bed
Their pearly leaves to the soft light spread,
They haunt me!—I dream of that bright spring's flow,
I thirst for its rills like a wounded roe!
Be still, thou sea-bird, with thy changing cry!
My spirit sickens as thy wing sweeps by. ”

“ Her blood was the Greek's, and hath made her free!
Proudly she stands, like an Indian bride
On the pyre with the holy dead beside;
But a shriek from her mother hath caught her ear
As the flames to her marriage-robe draw near,
And starting she spreads her pale arms in vain
To the form they must never enfold again! ”

“ They are Love's last gift—Bring ye flowers, pale flowers!
Bring flowers to the shrine where we kneel in prayer,
They are Nature's offering, their place is there!
They speak of hope to the fainting heart,
With a voice of promise they come and part,
They sleep in dust through the wintry hours,
They break forth in glory—Bring flowers, bright flowers! ”

“ There has been an almost unanimous expression of opinion on the part of individuals and the press that The Popular Science Monthly has met an urgent public need, that it is the most valuable magazine now before the American public, and deserves an extensive patronage. ”

“ It is a joyous hour when Eve breathes whispering through thy groves,
The hour that brings the son from toil, the hour the mother loves!
The hour the mother loves!—for me beloved it hath not been,
Yet ever in its purple smile thou smil'st, a blessed scene!
A scene whose beauty o'er my soul through distant years will come ”

“ Thou shouldst be look'd on when the starlight falls
Through the blue stillness of the summer-air;
Not by the torch-fire wavering on the walls,
It hath too fitful and too wild a glare;
And thou!—thy rest, the soft, the lovely, seems
To ask light steps, that will not break its dreams.
Flowers are upon thy brow ”

“ An old man's tears lie far too deep
To be pour'd for this alone!
But by that sign too well I know
That a youthful head must soon be low!
A youthful head, with its shining hair,
And its quick bright-flashing eye—
Well may I weep! for the boy is fair,
Too fair a thing to die! ”

“ There dwells no fear with love,
Let me slumber on thy breast,
While the billow rolls above!
Where the long-lost things lie hid, where the bright ones have their home,
We will sleep among the ocean's dead!—stay for me—stay! I come! ”

“ We shall explore conditions at home and abroad. We shall make this magazine, fearlessly and in the white light of to-day, as nearly the magazine of the century as courage and devotion and eyes that see and minds that shrink not can do. ”

“ A shiver'd spear, a cloven shield,
A helm with its white plume torn,
And a blood-stain'd turf on the fatal field,
Where a chief to his rest was borne!
He lies not where his fathers sleep,
But who hath a tomb more proud? ”

“ Seen darkly clear on that lurid glow;
There are shout and signal-gun, and call,
And the dashing of water—but fruitless all!
Man may not fetter, nor ocean tame
The might and wrath of the rushing flame! ”

“ With an icy ray and a withering spell—
Oh! chill is the house of sleep!"
"The morning wind blows free
And the reddening sun shines clear,
Come forth, come forth with me,
It is dark and fearful here!" ”

“ Of a sweet and hidden rill,
That makes the dim woods tuneful round—
—But soon it must be still!
Silence and dust
On thy sunny lips must lie!
Make not the strength of love thy trust,
A stronger yet is nigh! ”

“ We thank our editorial brethren throughout the country for the favorable manner in which they continue to notice our Magazine. They do us but justice when they say that all our efforts will be put in exercise to keep our Magazine in the enviable position we have so long occupied. Always in advance of every contemporary, we shall show in the new volume upon which we are entering, what enterprise, zeal and energy can accomplish in the elevation of the standard of literature and the arts. ”

“ With their bright spray-showers to the Lake!
Earth has no spring to quench the thirst
That semblance in his soul shall wake,
For ever pouring through his dreams,
The gush of those untasted streams! ”

“ There are many who prefer the safety of an established periodical to the risk which must needs attend any 'up-to-date' venture. Now Once a Week was not merely 'up-to-date' in its period, but far ahead of the popular taste. As we cannot rival it to-day in its own line, even the most ardent defender of the present at the expense of the past must own that the improvement in process-engraving and the increased truth of facsimile reproductions it offers have not inspired draughtsmen to higher efforts. Why so excellent a magazine is not flourishing to-day is a mystery. ”

“ One of the most touching features of the New Journal, to a reader of to-day, is the almost too generous kindliness of its judgments, the eager enthusiasm with which it proclaims the advent of geniuses who have already fallen into oblivion. ”

“ Why should a new magazine be entitled "Woman's Progress," as if the progress of woman were one thing, and the progress of man another? If we are two friendly sexes working hand in hand, how is it possible for either to progress alone? ”

“ The spirit of every bit of print from cover to cover of the magazine is the spirit of progress and upbuilding—of courage, persistence and success. Virile strength and energy, self-confidence, the mastery of self and circumstances are its life and soul, and even the casual reader feels the contagion of its vigor and its optimism. ”

“ There shines no sun through the land of dead,
But where the day looks not the brave may tread;
There is heard no song, and no mead is pour'd,
But the warrior may come to the silent board
In the shadow of the night. ”

“ The modern magazine is a distinctly new product. When the slow, thick stream of book-making first began to spread and filter out through the new channels of periodic publication, a magazine was a serious literary production. ”

“ It tells exactly what our parents, teachers, editors, doctors, pastors, evangelists, Sunday school workers, social, civic and moral reformers, and our young men and young women ought to know,—tells it in a pure, chaste way. It is a magazine that ought to be in every home, in every library, and in every office. ”

“ We appreciate this, and shall do our best to carry it to the satisfaction of our readers, and though this, our first number, is but a modest attempt at some of the things at which we aim — to establish a magazine that will be a fit representative of the young and virile West, a magazine of literature, art, education and progress, a record of our unique history and traditions — we believe that it will be received with encouragement and commendation. ”

“ Equipped as the average first-class American newspaper is in plant and staff, alert, keenly anxious to be up to date, impatient of humbug, a unique opportunity is given it by the first year of the new century—always a season of repentance—for that about-face in its treatment of the weather that its past lapses in this respect and the pressing importance of the subject demand. ”

“ They will be invaluable to all who care to understand the agencies by which human conduct is controlled, and the modifications which those agencies undergo in social development. We ask our readers to bear in mind that The Popular Science Monthly is the only magazine in the United States which tries to keep its patrons informed of the advances in this great field of thought ”

“ In the magazine the patchwork of daily journalism is assembled into more meaningful designs. Local news is sifted of its provincialism to become matter of national concern. Topics which you rapidly skimmed in the afternoon newspaper three or four weeks ago are re-discussed in the weekly or monthly magazines in a way which often makes you feel that here, for the first time, they become of personal import. ”

“ The reader of Magazines has of late years been harried by a direct, by an enfilading, and a ricochetting fire of new adventures, some honestly and avowedly frivolous, others portentously literary, a few loftily artistic. ”

“ So complete is the change, that all mind, except the heaviest and least popular, is likely to flow hereafter through the Daily, Weekly, Monthly or Quarterly Miscellanies, which compete with universities, parliaments, churches, and libraries, for ascendency in the government of mankind. ”

“ I am told, that in your eyes the chief virtue of all things consists in being new. A book just from the press has wit and spirit, which after a short time are not to be found in it. I understand that a volume six months old is thought to have lost all its vigour. Men, also, as books, attain with you a sudden eminence, but soon discover that their renown has left them with their novelty. ”