PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

Halcyon; or, Rod-Fishing with Fly. Minnow, and Worm. By Henry Wade, Honorary Secretary to the Wear Valley Angling Association.

London : Bell and Daldy.—Under this somewhat fanciful title a thoroughly experienced fisherman has given to the world the results of a lifelong devo- tion to the gentle craft. The book, which is just the right size for the

pocket, contains the most minute instructions, not only on every branch of angling, but on a great variety of subjects connected with the art; and is illustrated by a series of well executed and carefully-coloured plates. It is admirably got up ; and, as a complete and convenient trade-mecum for the practical angler, leaves absolutely nothing to be desired.

Education in Oxford : its Method, its Aids, and its Rewards. By James E. Thorold Rogers, M.A., Professor of Economic Science, King's Col- lege, London, &c. London: Smith, Elder, and Co.—This is far front

being an altogether satisfactory book. Its object is twofold ; firstly, to afford all requisite information to those persons who may be desirous of

placing their sons at Oxford, and who possess only the vaguest knowledge respecting the studies and expenses of the university; and, secondly, to convey the author's own opinions respecting education in general, and that furnished by Oxford in particular. Mr. Rogers has, indeed, succeeded pretty well in gathering together the details necessary for the first of these objects ; but they are so scattered about up and down the volume, and so overlaid with masses of less acceptable matter, that we fear the purpose for which they were collected will prove to be but imperfectly carried out. The principal characteristic of Mr. Rogers's own views is a decided discontent with everything and everybody connected with Oxford, singularly bitter in expression, and uniform in extent. The study of Aristotle and the middle- class examinations are almost the only two points which he thoroughly ap- proves of; and his favourite aversions appear to be college-tutors, and physical science, as at present taught at Oxford. His strictures on existing defects, and his suggestions for their amendment, are not unfrequently both sensible and just ; but unfortunately they labour under the uniform disadvantage of being expressed in a style which is at once flippant without being amusing, and obscure without being profound.

Essay on the Beautiftd, dc.; or, Elements of "Esthetic Philosophy. By Vincenzo Gioberti, Court Chaplain to the King, and Prime Minister of Sardinia, and Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Brussels. Translated from the Italian by Edward Thomas, Pupil of the Author at Brussels. Second Edition. London : Simpkin and Marshall.—A more absolutely unreadable book than this large octavo volume has, we will venture to say, never been printed. In expressing this opinion, we wish it to be distinctly understood that we have not a word to say against Vincenzo Gioberti, who, for aught we know to the contrary, may have been, as Mr. Thomas asserts, "a unique example of that human perfection that many desire, and that none possess but imperfectly." Our quarrel lies solely with his translator, who is evidently profoundly ignorant of the sufficiently obvious truth that Ii is absolutely impossible for any man to translate a work into a language with which he is not himself at least passably familiar. The five years which Mr. Thomas tells us he passed at the institution of Peter Gaggia at Brussels under the immediate tuition of Gioberti, may have rendered him eminently capable of appreciating the system of that philosopher; but they have assuredly fatally disqualified him for the self- imposed task of com- municating that system to an English audience, by causing him to forget nearly all that he ever knew of the syntax and construction of the English language. This is, we are quite aware, a very broad and sweeping statement ; but a very cursory examination of the original remarks which Mr. Thomas has prefixed to his translation will fully bear it out. From these we learn

that Gioberti especially admired " the Christian epopee, or epic poem of the Dante ;" that he was " endowed with that fecundity which is all at once the manifestation and the proof of a great writer ;" that he " has published three volumes of a very great importance, and which has for title Del Primate Merck e Civile dell' Italia ;" and that, when he was dead, even down to the children urged that they should go and assist at his last remains." Not less conclusive as to Mr. Thomas's acquaintance with Eng- land and the English, is the astounding statement that Cardinal Wiseman, after reading one of Gioberti's works, offered him the office of professor of philosophy at the University of Oxford—an offer the refusal of which involved, perhaps, a somewhat less stupendous effort of self-denial than Mr. Thomas seems to suppose. After these specimens of Mr. Thomas's familiarity with the language and institutions of England, it will readily be imagined that his translation of a treatise on testhetic philosophy is not precisely a readable or an intelligible work. If, however, the reader requires more direct evidence in support of this conclusion, let him take the following sentence :---" The Oriental epopee is the recital of an avatar, and represents the development of the theocosm already expressed by the temple and the primitive book, according to the principles of emanatism." Will any one believe after this that Mr. Thomas considers "this valuable book to be well suited for ladies;" and adds that "while it is intended for the profound private study of the learned, it is also a useful ornament for the drawing- room or the parlour"?

Shalcespere : a Critical Biography, and an Estimate of the Facts, Fancies, Forgeries, and Fabrications regarding his Dye and Works, which have ap- peared in Remote and Recent Literature. By Samuel Neil, Author of " The Art of Reasoning, &c. London: Houlston and Wright.—A reprint, with considerable additions, of four papers which appeared originally in a periodical publication, entitled, The British Controversialist. Mr. Neil's avowed object is to produce such a biography of Shakspeare as "may lead us to feel the human in his character, and may bring him before us as a man." This object he has endeavoured to attain by coafining himself rigidly to the known and established parts of Shakespeare's life, and by arranging them strictly in chronological order. His account of the Collier controversy is meagre in the extreme. It consists simply of an incomplete summary of the various articles on both sides of the question which have appeared in the leading literary journals and magazines•' and the results of this compilation are printed in parallel columns, a method which, as there is no correspondence between the respective paragraphs of each summary, is productive of nothing but confusion. As might be anticipated from the somewhat affected alliteration of his title, Mr. Neil's style is not commend- able, nor is it improved by the introduction of such words as "mono-. volumed" and "anonymity." But regarded merely as a compact and port- able repertory of the known facts of Shakspeare's life, his small volume is, we think, worthy of commendation.

The Hi.tory of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century. By the Rev. J. IL Merle d'Aubign6., D.D. Abridged and translated by the Rev. John Gill. Translator of " Olshaursen's Commentary on St. John." London: Rontledge, Warne, and Routledge.—The publication of this volume affords a fresh instance of Messrs. Routledge's tact in perceiving, and promptitude in supplying, the literary wants of the present day. Mr. Gill's careful and jadicioms abridgment of D'Aubigne's " History of the Reformation" cannot fail to be acceptable to the numerous class of readers who lack either time or opportunity to study the original work. The addition of a copious index considerably enhances the value of the book.

La Crise Reliyieuse en Hollande: Souvenirs at Impressions. Par D. Chantepie de la Saussaye. Leyden: De Brenk and Smits ; London: Wil- liams and Norgate.—This is a treatise, by one of the pastors of the Walloon church at Leyden, on the present position and future prospects of the Church of the Netherlands. It is published in reply to a work by M. Groen van Prinsterer, in which M. de La Saussaye is charged with having abandoned the party to which be belonged ; and therefore necessarily assumes the form of a recapitulation and defence of its author's ecclesiastical career. Notwithstanding its controversial character, it is written throughout in a temperate and conciliatory tone; but, as its full appreciation requires a previous acquaintance with the state of theological parties in Holland, it addresses itself necessarily to a somewhat limited circle of readers.

The Pilgrims : a Dialogue on the Life and Actions of King Henry the Righth. By William Thomas, Clerk of the Council to Edward VI. Edited, with notes from the Archives at Paris and Brussels, by J. A. Froude, Author of "The History of England, from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth." London : Parker, Son, and Bourne.—Although the singular ability which has been brought to bear by Mr. Fronde upon the somewhat arduous task of the rehabilitation of Henry VIII. is now all but universally acknowledged, the conclusions at which he has arrived have not, as yet, met with anything like a general acceptance. It would seem as though a new thing were less acceptable to the historical students of the present day than it was to the Athenians of old ; for there can be no doubt that the novelty of Mr. Froude's views has been one of the main objections against which they have had to contend. It cannot, therefore, be a matter of won- der that Mr. Froude should hail with satisfaction, and be anxious to make immediately public, any evidence that he may have discovered which tends (show that these opinions have not originated with himself. Such a piece

fevidence iscontained in his present volume. It consists of a dialogue, purporting to have been held by an Englishman, resident in Italy, with certain Italian gentlemen, who, naturally enough, were not disposed to form a very favourable judgment of the monarch who had rebelled suc- cessfully against the authority of the Pope. At the time when Mr. Froude wrote the early volumes of his history, he was not aware of the existence of this dialogue. It is briefly alluded to by Strype; and Mr. Froude has since discovered a copy of it among the Harleian as well as among the Lansdowne MSS. Nay more, it has already appeared in type, having been printed in the last century in a collection of tracts by the same author. The printed edition is, however, so rare, that Mr. Froude is undoubtedly right in supposing that the book will be quite new to the large majority of English readers. Its author was a Welshman by birth, was educated at Oxford, and was, towards the close of Henry's reign, compelled to leave England, possibly, as Mr. Froude suggests, on account of his religions opi. nions. He repaired to Italy, and remained there until the accession of Edward VI., when he returned to England, obtained the appointment of Clerk of the Council, and became a sort of political instructor to the young king. After Edward's death he attached himself to the Protestant party, took part in Wyatt's insurrection, and died at Tyburn in 1554. It was during his residence in Italy, shortly before (not atter, as Mr. Fronde states) the death of Henry VIII., that this conversation is represen`^d to have taken place, at Bologna—or, as W. Thomas says, " at Bonony, a city in the region of Italy." The Welshman was evidently a man of shrewd common-sense, and possessed of no small command of language: and his tract will certainly be both interesting and entertaining to the historical student. Whether, however, if looked at merely as a piece of reasoning, it will be regarded as materially strengthening Mr. Froude's case, is a matter which, we think, admits of doubt. All the best of the arguments by which W. Thomas supports his position have already been more forcibly stated by Mr. Froude himself. With his interlocutors, Indeed, the Welshman was, if his own account may be trusted, entirely successful. His especial opponent, or contrary, as he quaintly calls him, though evidently a man warmly attached to his opinions, wished that " it had cost him forty crowns on the condition that he had been twenty miles hence this fright; for, because, before this reasoning he was as constant a Catholic man as any was living, he was now brought into a labyrinth that he knew not what way to get him out :" and another of his hearers gave a practical proof of his high es- timate of the Welshman's powers as a pleader, by declaring that "if he would go with him to dispute in a case of contumacy that he was called for before the pope's legate, he would seek none other advocate, and would give him a crown for his labour." But the student of history will, we think, see more than one reason to induce him to place a less unlimited confidence in this zealous advocate of Henry VIIL He will observe throughout the dialogue a strain of indiscriminate admiration for all the members of the royal family. The Lady Mary, "for beauty of face bath few fellows," and when W. Thomas "comes to consider her virtue, her shadow maketh him to tremble;" Elizabeth is "a very witty and gentle young lady ;" and the young Prince Edward is "the beautifullest creature that liveth under the sun, and hath such a grace of port, and gesture, and gravity, when he cometh into any presence, that it should seem he were already a father, and yet passeth he not the age of ten years." Again, the zealous Welshman was, as Mr. Fronde himself observes, entirely mistaken both as to the per- sonal charms of, and the king's feelings for, Anne of Cleves, when he asserts that "the king loved this woman out of measure; for why? her personage, her beauty, and gesture, did no less merit it." But, after all, it is not the arguments of the dialogue which render it so valuable as a piece of evidence ip support of Mr. Froude's case. Its weight lies in the simple fact that the view which it takes of Henry VIIL's motives and conduct were actually held by a contemporary of that monarch. "It has," as Mr. Froude well puts it, "the value which an account would have, if given by any able middle-aged man now living, of the first war with China, for instance, of the war with Russia, the Irish famine, or the political struggles in Parlia- ment during the last fifteen years. The particulars of such an acccunt would be often inexact, but the outline and effect would represent the im- pression generally current in the country ; and in that way, and to that degree, the writer of The Pilgrim represents to us the popular view of the conduct and character of Henry VIII., as received in England at the time of is death."

W. Thomas's Dialogue does not occupy more than half of the volume now before us. The remaining half consists of a series of extracts from the correspondence of the English envoys of various foreign powers with their respective courts. The motive which led Mr. Froude to examine and publish this correspondence is worthy of notice, affording, as we think it certainly does, a strong proof of his earnest desire to merit the reputation of a thoroughly impartial historian. Having beard, he tells us, from William Thomas the best that could be said for Henry by the ordinary unofficial Englishman, he was desirous of hearing also the worst that could be said of him by contemporary authorities ; and he judged that nowhere was he likely to find a less favourable view of the king's actions than in the de- spatches of the French and Imperial ambassadors resident at the English court. These despatches, many of them in cipher, may fairly be regarded as expressing the true opinions of their writers—men Who, of all others, would not be likely to put a better construction than they could help upon Henry's conduct. Mr. Froude presents his extracts from this correspond- ence in the guise of notes to W. Thomas's Dialogue ; but they may more properly be called notes to his own History. They are full of highly curious and interesting matter, illustrative of the events and feelings of the time. And there results from their perusal this very note-worthy and im- portant fact, that the impression which they convey of Henry VIIL's cha- racter and conduct is by many degrees leas unfavourable than that which is produced by the works of the vast majority of English historians.

The form in which this volume is published is the same as that of Mr. Fronde's history, to which it constitutes a very interesting and valuable appendix.

London Labour and the London Poor. By A. Mayhew. Part XITE.

The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare; adapted for family reading. By Thomas Bowdler, Esq., F.A.S. New edition, illustrated. Part L The Illustrated Family Gazetteer* or, Dictionary of Universal.Geography, com- piled from the most recent authorities. By James Bryce, LL.D. New edition. Part I.

The Complete Works of William Hogarth; in a series of one hundred and fifty steel engravings from the original pictures. With an Introductory Essay. By James Hannay. Part I. The History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century. By the Rev. J. H. Merle d'Aubignd, D.D. Abridged and translated by the Rev. John Gill. Conversational Hindustani Phrases; or, How to ask a Question and give an Answer. By A. Habersak. The Hindustani by Munshi Nasfruddin Ahmed. The Foot and its Covering. By James Dowie. Considerations on the Human Mind, its present State, and future Destination. By Richard Grattan, Esq., M.D., &c. • Art Studies : the "Old Masters" of Italy: Fainting. By James Jackson Davies With copperplate illustrations. 2 vols. Prize Essay on Adult Education, and how to promote it. By William John Bullock, 11.11.C.P. On Memory, and the rational means of improving it. By Dr. E. Pick. Shatespere: a critical Biography. By Samuel Neil. Travels in England: a Ramble with the City and Town Missionaries. By John Shaw, M.D. Universal Restoration; a poem, in ten epochs, divided into twenty-six books. By George Calvert 2 vols. Seasons with the Sea-Horses ; or, Sporting Adventures in the Northern Seas. By

James Lamont, Esq., F.G.S. PAMPHLETS.

"Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the Ox:" or, the Voluntary Churches of Eng- land in account with their Ministers. By Conscientia. The Italian Revolution of 1860. A Lecture, delivered at the Working Men's Col- lege, Manchester, Feb. 1, 1861. By George Osborne Morgan, M.A.