10 DECEMBER 1831, Page 21

The Contemplations of Bishop Hall, with an Account of his

Life, forms the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Volumes of the "Divines of the Church of England." They are a very extraordinary spe- cimen of ingenuity and fertility of mind spent wholly upon the Gospel. There is scarcely a personal case in the Old or New Tes- tament that is not made the subject of contemplation and reflec- tion, by a genius of considerable power and exemplary piety. The spirit of the time led to these subjects, and they were entered upon with devotion and enthusiasm : at present the clergyman reads his newspaper—that is his only work in folio, which he studies in modcrn types. • Nicotiana is a collection of all that can be said of Tobacco. It is treated in every possible form,—as a botanical production, as an article of commerce, of medicine, of luxury ; and all the sense and nonsense which has been written on the subject, from JAMES the First downwards, is collected here, together with a description of divers resorts for smokers in this metropolis, called Divans. The greatest peculiarity that we can discern about Tobacco, is the variety of forms in which it is presented to the human senses. It is chewed, it is snuffed, and it is smoked ; men enjoy it by means of the palate, the nostrils, and the respiratory organs. It is a Protean luxury.