12 JULY 1845, Page 18

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

From July 4th to July 10th. BOOKS.

Narrative of a Mission to Bokhara, in the years 1843-1845, to aseertan the Fate of Colonel Stoddart and Captain Conolly. By the Reverend Joseph Wolff, D.D., LL.D. In two volumes.

A Tour through the Valley of the Meuse; with the Legends of the Walloon Country and the Ardennes. By Dudley Costello.

Whitehall; or the Days of Charles L An Historical Romance. By ;the Author of " Whitefriars." In three volumes.

England in 1815 and 1845; or a Sufficient and a Contracted Currency. Thy Archibald Alison, F.R.S.E., Author of "The History of Europe during the French Revolution," &c.

[In politics the Duke of Newcastle stands alone in his glory, steadfast whilst-all around is moving. Mr. Alison is not so solitary as the Duke, for there are sundry currency-doctors as zealous as -himself; but he is no less consistent than the lord of Clumber, and more active. England in 1815 and 1845 is the old story—our troubles spring from a want of money: though we must observe that we think there is no lack of it, if it be true, as Mr. Alison affirms, that "powers of attor- ney to sell the Three per Cent Consols or other Government Stock, Exchequer Bills, Bank of England or private bankers' stock, railway companies' stock, bank: notes of the Bank of England or private banks, and the bills of private companies or individuals, constitute the general currency of the country, as much as the sove- reigns, half-sovereigns, silver shillings and sixpences, and copper money issued by Government from the Aline Notwithstanding the magnitude of all these items, Mr. Alison is satisfied that we want more currency; and that its absence not only causes our distress, but is the origin of other people's, having produced the ,stoppages of the American banks and the non-payment of their dividends. iris proposal is to permit the Bank of England, and any other bank on a certain de- posit of stock, to issue notes ad ltbittmi from one pound upwards, payable on demand in gold, not of any specific quantity, but at what Mr. Alison calls the market not the Mint price. The means of ascertaining this price, and of working the proposi- tion generally, are not very i clearly explained. So far as we understand the inea- +sure, its principle consists n making the depreciated paper the measure of the issuer's responsibility. If, for example, the bankers should double the amount of their currency, and reduce the value of their notes by one half, they would be able to discharge their promises to pay one pound by handing over a half-sovereign.] Rejkctions on a Grant to a Roman Catholic Seminary; being a Chug* delivered at the Visitation of the Dioceses of Dublin and Glandelough,

26th June 1845; comprising the substance of a Speech delivered in the ' House of Lords, 8d June 1845. By Richard Whately, D.D., Archbishop of Dublin.

f The Archbishop of Dnblin's Charge has been in Ireland, and in some degree in

• England, a sort of conducting-rod for the chief fury of the Maynooth storm. The present publication contains a complete exposition of the views and reflections -which have motived its author's support of the Ministerial measure. In the Charge to his Clem- the Archbishop incorporated the chief part of the substance of his 'Speech in the House of Lords; and the printed copy of the Charge contains portions abridged or omitted in the delivery in order to save time. It passes in review every argument of any consequence that has occurred in the discussion: the topics fellow each other in an easy and natural order, and are treated in plain per- spicuous language, yet with uniform acuteness of intellect, and occasionally with -great beauty of illustration. In some passages general principles of high im- nce are necessarily dwelt upon. Some errors as to matters of fact—the isistory of the Maynooth grant, the actual revenues of the Protestant Church in Ireland, &c.—are corrected. Both on account of its clear convincing argument sad dispassionate tone, and on account of the ecclesiastical status of the author, Dr. Whately's Reflections on a Grant to a Roman Catholic Seminary is likely to be consulted as an historical document illustrative of the struggle between hderrmce and intolerance in this country.] 'The Punjaub; being a brief Account of the Country of the Sikhs, its extent, history, commerce, productions government, manufactures, laws, religion, 'Sec. -By, Lieutenant-Colonel productions, late of the Service of the Maha- rajah Runjeet Singh and his immediate Successors. 1Lientenant Colonel Steinbach has not presented an account of his observations during service in the Punjaub, but compiled a statistical and geographical description, from other writers, tested by his own knowlege. The subjects which he handles are the topography, climate, productions, commerce, and manufactures of the Punjaub, together with its history, religion' manners, and customs. There is also a chapter on the Government and the Army; which has greater fresh- ness and value from the author drawing upon his own experience. Had Colonel Steinbach followed the same course throughout, his book would have been more „generally attractive, if less instructive. As it is, the book contains a compendious .atcotmt of a cotmioywhieh seems every day to approach nearer to circumstances 'that" may-give the British a more direct influence over the Sikhs," as the Colonel gnardedlyexpresses it.] The Practice of Angling, particularly as regards Ireland. By °Vermin. In two volumes.

[ff.r. O'Gorman is a devotee of the noble arts of fly-fishing and trolling; under- istamffing float and other inferior kinds of sport, but rather looking down upon them. He is familiar with the rivers and lakes of Ireland, as well as with the .0haracteristic.s of the country; and he rather seems to consider that the crowning " curse " of the land "is a most indiscriminate system of the vilest poaching," and the use of standing-nets and weirs in the salmon-rivers. Passing this teal, and a loosish morality towards brother adepts, based upon a slight alteration of the soldier's maxim touching war, that ails fair in -fishing, Mr. O'Gorman is a right jolly fellow, without cant, pomposity, or blarney. In his Practice .of Angisny he gives,full directions.upon. all subjects, not even omitting the inferior -kinds of fishing, though -curtly and in haste; and he varies his didactic precepts ley narratives of his own adventures and exploits upon different occasions, from ,youth upwards. Perhaps a little too much of the wordiness of the raconteur may now and then be found; but not more of this than is usual with sporting men, after the reader passes the preface. Here Mr. O'Gorman has nothing to .say., yet will not be content with saying nothing, at least with writing nothing.] Anthologia Germanica. German Anthology; a Series of Translations from

the most popular of the German Poets. By James Clarence Mangan. In two volumes.

[These volumes consist of specimens of the principal modern poets of Germany. 'The present selection is made from a series of translations that have appeared -dming the last ten years in the Dublin University Magazine and in consequence of the favourable reception which they experienced in their fugitive state. There is occasionally something of stiffness or constraint in Mr. Mangan's muse, perhaps from a too rigid adherence to the forms of his originals; and he is sometimes rather literal, which we are inclined to ascribe to the same cause: but there is a good deal of matter and reality in his translations.] CEuvres Choisies de E. Scribe, de l'Academie Francaise. Tomes II. a V. [The select works of a modern dramatist, containing between forty and fifty pieces! and furnishing, we should think, an indispensable selection to all play- wrights. The collection ranges with Messieurs Dittoes Chofs-trCEuvre de la Litterature Frangaise; and is printed with their wonted taste.] Stanhope; a Domestic Novel. By Joseph Middleton, Esq., Barrister-at-law. [Mr. Leslie Stanhope is the natural son of an English nobleman's daughter, by -a French littemteur and philosopher The family do not own him, of course; but he is educated in France and then provided with an annuity: the story of the novel consists of the incidents, characters, and troubles Mr. Stanhope encounters

• in consequence of the shyness of his mother and grandpapa.]

The Avlo-Intlian Passage Homeward and Outward; or a Card for the Over-land Traveller from Southampton to Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta. With Letters descriptive of the Homeward Passage. By David Lester Richardson, Author of "Literary Leaves," &c. With numerous Bins-

- traders.

[The origin of this work wig a narrative or description of the homeward voyage from Calcutta; which Mr. Richardson wrote in three letters, but his publishers 'required something more, and hence the volume. The Anglo-Indian Passage contains the usual particulars of passage, freight, outfit, times of stopping on the seryage, and how to make the most of them, Intermingled with a great variety of wood-cuts, and some clever verses by Mr. Richardson, suggested by incidents on the passage. Notwithstanding the poetry, we think the distinguishing feature of 'this Indian guide is the easy narrative mode in which the commonsense directions and advice are conveyed.]

Gilberts Geography for Families and Schools.

'This volume contains a vast mass of geographical infirmation, compressed into -a-small compass by presenting it, where possible, in a more statistical form. The -peculiar characteristic of the book, however, seems to us is maps, which though small.are very distinct from their neatness.)

NEW SERIAL.

.Cosmos; a Survey of the General Physical History of the Universe. By Alexander You Humboldt. No. L ‘til. translation of Ihunbeldt's celebrated work, to be published in monthly-parts, forming tw, neat volumes.]

PERIODICALS

The Oxford and Cambridge Review. July 1845. No. L [The plan of this work is merely a monthly review of books, such as wee ginated a century up; the only article approaching the essay-pamphlet-like style of the Quarterlies being one on the condition of the poor. Whether such at periodical is wanted may be a question; for mere notices of books are forestalled in weekly publications of various kinds, and neither space nor time permits the larger and more elaborate treatment of the quarterly publications, supposing the requisite connexion and ability existed. Judging from the sample before us, this is not the case. There is a sufficient number of long reviews--seven; but the choice is not various or judicious. A poor review of the subject of Sybil, the novels of Mrs. Bray, and of the author of Wkitefriars, form three notices a fiction; whilst the poesy of Young England—Lord Mariners, Smythe, and Mona- ton Milnes—completes the light literature. Les Diplomates Europeans of -Cape- figue furnishes an account of Metternieh's career and character; and there is .a notice of Thiers's History of the Empire. The execution does not exceed the choice of the matter: it smacks of the litteratenr and the coterie, with occasions traits of amatemship in the obtrusion of the writer's self.] Transactions of the American Ethnological Society. Volume I. [The object of this Society, which was established in 1842, and boasts a long rut of members both American and European, is to investigate and discuss subjects connected with man, his history, and his arts; especially, as it would appear, those mysterious topics that refer to the origin of peoples, the diversity of races and languages, and the remains of ancient art and civilization. A variety of papers, chiefly on American, African, and Arabian subjects, have been read before the Society; &selection from which is published in this first volume of Transactiona. These are only five in number; but the first, by Albert Gallatin, on the semi- civilized Nations of Mexico, Yucatan, and Central America, is a work in itself, extending to upwards of three hundred pages. The second article briefly treats of ancient remains in Tennessee, endeavouring to establish the existence of the worship of the Phallus. The third paper enters at greater length into the sub- ject of the Grave Creek Mound in Western Virginia. The fourth is a very ela- borate notice of Iliroyaritic Inscriptions, with the attempts made to decipher them; and the last article is a short account of some ruins near Carthage.]