This little volume, dedicated to Dr. J. W. C. Pennington, is very modestly presented to the public by the author.

Mr. Holly is one of the proscribed race; and he wisely says that he does not appear as a competitor to Whittier, Lowell, Longfellow, Bryant, or Willis, but as a humble member of an oppressed people.

Many of the poems quite surpass mediocrity—several are very pretty—and when it is known that the author has had access only to a scanty library, and has possessed but few educational advantages, we are sure the kind-hearted will "lightly scan" any of the shortcomings that may be perceptible in this little work.

Thy magic pen a power wields,
More potent than the steel clad hosts,
With glittering swords, and myriad shields;
Who guard around Oppression's posts
Thou sawest thy brother bruised and bow'd,
Tho' clothed in Afric's hated hue;
Thou heard'st him groan and cry aloud,
And to thy woman's heart proved true
Unto his wrongs thou gav'st an ear;
Unto his wounds thou gav'st a tongue;
A list'ning world, came nigh to hear
Thee sing the burthen of his song.
The Britton heard it on the strand,
The Frank upon the Elysee,
The Arab on his Arid sand,
The Russ upon the Baltic sea,
The Greek upon his island home,
The German at his classic lore;
'Twas heard along the streets of Rome,
And e'en on Afric's dusky shore,
In Birmah, China and Japan,
Myriads thy magic power own,
And along the streets of Ispahan,
Thy "Uncle Tom" and Cassy's known
Truth, mighty is the falchion bright:
Which thou with mystic arm doth wield,
And her attendants love, and light
There are thy buckler and thy shield.

FREEDOM'S OFFERING—A Collection of Poems.