for, while the former work is certainly one of the

best scientific acquainted, the latter is far from being not born free, but in a state of dependence. It is perfectly true that manuals with which we are we are born in a state of dependence, but is it less true that there is entitled to claim so high a position as a popular statement of the

results of palaeontological research. rosearch. It would seem as though Mr. a sense in which individual independence is a right? Again many Page required to be kept strictly within the narrow limits to which the ideal constitutions are illusory, but do we not hold that there is some writer of a purely technical treatise is necessarily confined; for, as " criterion of good goverment ;" are there not many of us who soon as he attempts to go beyond them, he wanders off into a con- assent to the proposition " that the ideally best form of government fused and polysyllabic style, which is far from being a good medium is that in which the sovereignty or supreme controlling power, in the for the clear exposition of scientific truths. Of this tendency he last resort, is vested in the centre aggregate of the community ?" appears to be himself partially conscious ; for he acknowledges in his We have the strongest conviction that intelligence and moral senti- preface that, "designed for thegeneral reader, and delivered in part

tie choice and establish- to popular audiences, the style is, perhaps somewhat more rhetorical W done otherwise, his object being to excite rather than satisfy the approves of Mr. Darwin's theory ; and considers the doctrine of special Six

"double up" his adversary in no time. The French, he maintained, Years in Italy. By Kate Crichton, Author of "Before the Dawn

were in a gulf of bankruptcy. He thought that the ruin of her in M In two volumes. London : Charles J. Skeet.—Miss Kate

A Crichton is a young lady who, in 1852 went

journey was, apparently, the went to Italy with her papa and mamma. The principal object of hen he said at Wilberforce's completion of her musical education ; for she informs us that she was table " I should like to know who was Chancellor of the Exchequer at that time " an artist, having already appeared before a London to Attila." audience." Being, like many young, ladies, of an enthusiastic and

The story of the war with the Republic—of its commencement, somewhat sentimental disposition, it is natural that the peculiarities when the disposable land forces of England amounted only to nine of foreign life, of which she had had no previous experience, should pro- thousand effective men, of its close in the Peace of Amiens, of the dace a deep impression on her mind; nor is it, perhaps, to be won- rebellion in Ireland, of the brilliant career of Napoleon and Wel- clued at that she should make an attempt to communicate this im- lington's triumph in the Peninsula—is well told in Mr. Knight's pression to the general public. We are afraid, however, that we valuable and striking version. There are few who will not be glad cannot compliment Miss Crichton upon the manner in which she has

e to have so pleasing and accurate a summary of the events of this employed the unusually lengthened opportunities for observations latest epical period of England's history, when Napoleon I. twice which fell to her lot; for, with the exception of a few scattered de- looked across the Channel, weighing the feasibility of invasion, and tails respecting Austrian oppression, her work contains nothing beyond such cursory descriptions of, and vague raptures about, towns,

twice thought better of it. When nearly four hundred thousand men richurches, pictures, fetes, &c., as any midsummer tourist might be sprang up at a word, in defence' of their country, and finally when, expected to supply. En revanche, however, she gives us full informa- after the abdication of Napoleon, there were three months of public tion on all matters of a personal or domestic nature ; detailing all joy in England, "to parallel which we must look to the fifteenth papa's funny tricks, and carefully noting the dates at which their and sixteenth centuries when Henry V. rode back into London after party was jomed by Lina from England, and by Charlie from Corfu. the battle of Agincourt, and Elizabeth went in a chariot to St. Paul's Of her style, which is, as a general rule, rather ornate, the following an- to return thanks for the destruction of the Armada." The home ticipations of the enjoyment in store for her may be taken as a fair history of this period• is also told with candour and ability by Mr. sample: "But now the time approached to tread that classic soil, Knight.. He states fairly the change that came over the spirit of land of the Muses, thy beauty, which had been pictured to us but in

imagination, would soon lay stretched before our eyes in all its grand Pitt's dream of Reform. State trials, alien and treason bills, What deep interest there would be in gazing upon scenes where balmy gentle breezes carried on their wings rich touching strains of Southern melody !" So, too, the moon is " the out, continued true to his old political creed, though grievously Night ;" the time which a gentleman is silver planet," or "the Queen of

appointed in the results of the French Revolution. His eloquence spends in bed he "devotes to Morpheus" and a band of musicians sometimes outran his discretion, as once when he denounced the are " followers of Apollo." Although Miss Crichton's prolonged coercive measures of the Government, declaring that "the obedience residence abroad seems to have somewhat impaired her mastery over of the people was no longer a question of moral obligation and duty, her own language, it has not, apparently, rendered her perfectly but of prudence." Speaking of the two rival statesmen in this familiar with foreign tongues. Atter three weeks in Mayence, it is, critical period, our historian very properly observes that we have no we think, scarcely excusable to talk about "singing German fierier, ;" more right to assume that Pitt was resolved upon establishing a and, after six years in Italy, she certainly ottght not to speak of the despotism, than that Fox desired to witness the overthrow of the Larga di Garda. We cannot but think that Siis s Crichton would have

l

Moral, and Commercial Economy of the Factory System of Great Britain. By the late Andrew Ure, M.D., F.R.S. Third Edition. Edited by P. L. Simmonds, F.S.S. London: H. G. Bohn.—As might have been expected, Mr. Bohn has followed up his reissue of Dr. Ure's " History of the Cotton Manufacture" by that of the general treatise on the Philosophy of Manufactures, by the same author. The task of preparing the present volume for the press has been entrusted to the same gentleman who so ably discharged that duty in the case of the former work ; and some idea of the extent of his labours may be formed from the fact that considerably more than one-third of the volume before us is occupied by the additional matter which he has supplied in order to bring the treatise down to the present time.

Some Remarks on " Essays and Reviews :" being the Revised Preface to the Second Edition of " Sermons on the Beatitudes." By George Moberly, D.C.L., Head Master of Winchester College. Oxford and London : J. H. and J. Parker.—Another of the apparently endless series of pamphlets which has been evoked by that notorious volume "Essays and Reviews." What Dr. Moberly principally objects to in that work is the random nature of its suggestions, which are likely to "be lightly taken up by light and conceited brains, to the ruin of all humility_and simplicity of faith, and the encouragement of all kinds of sin." He does not propose to answer it; for he thinks that "you might as well attempt to do battle against a swarm of gnats as to meet this sort of guerilla warfare in direct and solemn encounter." Such being his opinion on this point, it seems rather a pity that he should have given himself the trouble, not only of recasting the preface to his sermons, but also of reprinting it in a separate form.

Puck on Pegasus. By H. Cholmondeley Pennell. London : J. C. Hotten.—This volume of comic verses is so luxuriously got up, and presents altogether so bright and pretty an appearance, that it is im- possible to avoid the impression that it is intended to rely for success principally upon its external advantages; and we must confess that this impression is in some measure confirmed by aim,examination of its contents. Mr. Peniiell's qualifications for the work which he has un- dertaken appear to be a certain facility of versification, a tolerably keen scent for a possible parody, and about as much of a turn for pun.. ning as any moderately educated man who is not above turning his energies in that direction might make sure of being able to acquire. On the whole, we are inclined to think that his parodies are his most successful productions and of these the best is that on Tennyson's "Charge of the Light Brigade." That on Mrs. Browning's "Lady Geraldine's Courtship" is vulgar and exaggerated. "The Night Mail North," although the most pretentious, is far from being the most sue- cessful piece in the volume. Mr. Pennell is particularly attached to that very cheap and very objectionable form of fun which consists in —to use a common phrase—" selling" the reader, by making a num- ber of apparently serious verses lead up to a burlesque termination; and he kindly aids the perception of his readers by printing the comic line in each piece in old English or in some other distinctive type. The "Fragment, after Thomas Hood" is, as far as mere sound goes, a rather clever copy of the original; but its author somewhat trans- gresses the limits of legitimate imitation when he bodily appropriates one of Hood's own puns. Mr. Pennell pronounces Tupper's works to be " quintescential rot ;" a verdict the justice of which is less ques- tionable than its orthography. The volume is copiously and very effectively illustrated by Cruikshank, Leech, Tenniel, Hablot Browne, and Julian Portch.

The Chronicle of Ethel/led. Set forth by the Author of " Mary Powell." London: Hall, Virtue, and Co.—This is another of those quasi-antique novelets in which the authoress of " Mary Powell" so much delights. In the present case she has gone back to an unusually remote period of antiquity, having selected the reign of King Alfred as the scene of her operations. In herpreface she kindly warns us not to waste any time in attempting to verify the facts recorded in her chronicle; and advises us not to bring against her any charge of anachronism unless we have thoroughly searched the works of the Saxon historians, and also of Sharon Turner. As we have not specially qualified ourselves in this manner, we do not mean to question the accuracy of her attempts to give a local colour to her story by the frequent use of such words as "yldestan setl," " steorless," meowla" (which, judgingphonetically, is a not very complimentary designation for a wife), and many others. We are even ready to admit that " peacei- fied" is a more purely. Saxon word than " pacified," and that King Alfred was in the habit of writing with a silver pen. But, when we have made all these allowances, the fact still remains that The Chro- nicle of Ethed is, after all, but a feeble work, on which none but very young readers are likely to place at all a high value. We are far from expecting that our verdict will have the slightest effect in putting the authoress out of conceit with her production ; for she is probably of Ethelfied's opinion, " that as much pleasure accrues to the performer of an indifferent as of a superior work, if so be he is satisfied with him- self."

Household Medicine. By John Gardner, M.D., Author of the " Great Physician," &c. London : Smith, Elder, and Co.—This is a great im- provement on any of the existing treaties on domestic medicine. It contains very minute directions as to the internal economy of the sick room, including several very simple and effective devices for promoting the patients' comfort; a clear description of the symptoms of all common diseases, and a statement of the mode of treatment proper to each ; and a list of prescriptions in which the latest discoveries of medical science are carefully embodied. The very completeness of the book, however, renders it doubly necessary to warn its possessor against the idea that it will enable him to be his own doctor : a fallacy against which no one can protest more loudly than Dr. Gardner him- self. In Dr. Gardner's introductory remarks on the rEform of the medical profession, we observe the following singular statement, which surely implies a too sweeping censure upon the whole class of pharma- ceutical chemists : " When a prescription is written, and committed to the patient, the probability is very great in many cases that the prin- cipal ingredient is not obtained.'

Spitbead Forts. Reply to the Royal Commissioners' Second Report on our National Defences, By Captain Cowper Phipps Coles, -R.N. London : Published at Mitchell's Military Library.—Captain Coles's pamphlet is a plea for the adoption of floating batteries, rather than of stationary forts, for the defence of the Portsmouth Dockyards. He \• urges that the former plan will be far more efficient than the latter, while there can be no sort of doubt as to its superior economy, since, by the adaptation of existing ships of the line, which are perfectly well fitted for the purpose, twenty batteries might be obtained for the sum which is required for three forts. Throughout his remarks he assumes that "the resistance of protecting material has hitherto im- proved in a greater degree than the penetrating power of shot;" so that it is possible that the results which are now being obtained with the Armstrong 120-pounders may tend somewhat to modify his opinion.

Journal of the Dublin Statistical Society. Part XIX. Dublin : Pon- sonby.—The Dublin statisticians have recently been considering se- veral subjects of considerable interest. Mr. Connor has contributed an energetic statement of the advantages of the application of the com- petitive system to Civil Service appointments. Mr. Houston has made some sensible observations upon Trial by Jury, in which he ad- vocates the abolition of the rule which requires a unanimous verdict, the discontinuance of anything like coercion to obtain a verdict, the introduction of a specific element into commonjuries in peculiar cases, and the remuneration of jurors on a more liberal scale. Dr. Hancock has considered the effects likely to be produced by the recent discoveries of gold; and has arrived at the conclusion that, unless silver be substituted for gold as the standard of value, the prices of all commodities will presently rise to three times their present amount.

Emancipation in the West Indies. London: Published by the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society.—This pamphlet consists of a report of the proceedings at a public meeting held at Willis's Rooms in February lastthe_principal feature of which was a couple of addresses delivered by Mr. Underhill and the Rev. J. T. Brown, twogentlemen who had recently visited the West Indies in the character of a deputa- tion from the Baptist Missionary Society. Their object is to show that the emancipation of slaves has not, as is generally supposed, been productive of any material injury to the prosperity of the West India Islands.

Brief Sketches of the Parishes of Booterstown and Donnybrook, in the County of Dublin. By the Rev. Beaver H. Blacker, Incumbent of Beaverstown. Part II. Dublin: George Herbert. London : Bell and Daldy.—This volume concludes, we presume, Mr. Blacker's laborious compilation of materials for the history of his parish, since it is brought down to the year 1860. The work contains some curious and interesting matter, and does great credit to the diligence and research of its author.