LITERARY NEWS.

Ova influential contemporary, the Athenceum, makes rather a serious charge against Sir John Romilly, on the score that he has appointed Mr. W. B. Turnbull to be Calendcrer of the Foreign Correspondence at the State Paper Office ; the reason why the appointment is thus assailed being, that Mr. Turnbull is "not only a Papist but a pervert." The Master of the Rolls is the last person that we should suspect of any in- tolerance, and he is not likely to judge of any man's capacity for office according to his religious opinions ; but why should he ? Ought he not to judge by other tests ? We inquired, therefore, to ascertain What Mr. Turnbull has done which shows his fitness for the office, and what are the peculiar tenets which are supposed to establish his unfitness. The Atheneum admits that Mr. Turnbull may be "an amiable and a learned man," and a monument of his learning is put into our hands in the shape of "The liuik of Chronicles of Scotland, or a Metrical Version of the history of Hector Bowe, by William Stewart."

This bulky-book is one of a series " published by the authority of the Lords Commissioners of her Majesty's Treasury under the direction of the Master of the Rolls," and it consists of a long poem purporting to recount the history of Scotland. It is supposed to have been translated by a member of the family of the Wolf of Badenoch; its own text shows it to have been finished in the year 1530 ; and it was probably undertaken by command of Margaret Tudor, widow of James the Fourth, for the instruction of the youthful sovereign James the Fifth. If so, the royal pupil never had his head filled with a greater mass of non- sense ; for a more worthless work, whether with reference to history or poetry, we never encountered. The iclitor anticipates that it may not be appreciated by "the fastidious balance of mere facts" ; but he thinks " the philologist and the philosophic student of the past of a once in- dependent nation will not underrate even those mythical exaggerations or rude imageries." Scotland will aot thank Mr. Turnbull for insinuating that it ceased to be " independent" when its crown was united with that of the remainder of the island ; the philosophic student will fall to detect any materials in this vast book ; and if ,it has the slightest value for the philologist, an essay with a few extracts from its quaint and perhaps somewhat Saxonized -Scotch, would have been quite sufficient, without three large octavo volumes of some six hundred pages each, or MOTS.

It is solemn rubbish, and certainly does not afford a striking testi- monial to the fitness of a man who is appointed to select out of our re- cords such papers as would be most valuable to illustrate our history. There is want of appreciation in the volume—want of judgment. in this aspect, perhaps, even the religious question acquires some peculiar force. Our contemporary objects that Mr. Turnbull is appointed to edit

the papers which contain the history of religion in England.

"They describe the Wars of the Armada, the War of Independence in Hol- land, the Thirty Years' War ; in all which events Mr. Turnbull believes the action of this country to have been deplorable, undutiful, and false. They abound in particulars of those writings and treasons of the Jesuits which made them formidable to the peace of the family and that of the State ; Mr. Turnbull holds the Order of Jesus, to quote his own words,

the highest honour' veneration, and esteem.' They preserve for us multi- farious information relative to those priestly plots which the Government of Elizabeth crushed with a strong hand ; Mr. Turnbull thinks the Queen, Council, Parliament, and people of England barbarous and malignant in the use they made of this preservative power. They contain many allu- sions to the miracle-impostures by which the Roman priests preserved their ascendancy over ignorant and fanatical minds • Mr. Turnbull professes a devout conviction that desperate and deadly diseases ' were really cured by touching with a martyr's reliques. Mr. Turnbull has himself declared his views on all these points in his memoirs of Father Southwell," [whose poems he edited.]

Still, however, we have no proof that this very peculiar selection

was made by Sir John Romilly, who would generally be considered a staunch Protestant, and who may be supposed to have at his command many other persons specially trained for such duties. There must be, amongst his own staff, men familiar with British history, thoroughly able to appreciate the context of any chronicles brought to light, accustomed to handle papers of the class in question, and, we presume, not likely to be distracted by any peculiar religious opinions. If there are not such persons in the staff of the Record Office, then the office itself must be very improperly manned. Sir John Itomilly is the last person likely to have selected an outsider so singularly unfit; since the choice would. J. fortiori be a declaration that the office under his own command is manned only by persons positively worse than Mr. Turnbull.

The Literary Gazette says it has good authority.for contradicting the statement -that the _Duke of Devonshire had authorized four eminent Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries to make a formal examination of the rerkins-Collier folio. Oar contemporary is told " that there is not the slightest foundation for such:astatement. His Grace on-leaving town. limply handed over the folio to the care of his solicitor, with directions that it should be shown to Mr. Collier or any of his friends who were anxious to inspect it for the purpose of examining the margins with reference to the statements of Messrs Hamilton and Maskelyne.' Our contemporary denies that a committee of examiners has been formally sanctioned by his Grace ; nor does it believe that the Society of Anti- quaries, as a body, has delegated to any of its members the task of examining into the authenticity or otherwise of the corrections.

The first portion of Dr. Pusey's Commentary upon the Bible—a work upon which the celebrated author has been engaged for many years—is stated to be ready for immediate publication. The part to be issued is upon the Prophet Hosea.

A critical work, which is likely to excite a good deal of attention, is announced from the pen of Mr. Robert Chambers, of Edinburgh. It is to be entitled " The Romantic Scottish Ballads : their Epoch and Author- ship," and, it is said, will disprove the antiquity of the historical ballads of Scotland, which the author considers to have been written in the early part of the eighteenth century.

Several new works of interest are announced as immediately forth- coming by Messrs. Groombridge and Co. Among them are " The His- tory of the Commercial Crisis, 1857-'58, and the recent Stock Exchange Panic," by D. Morier Evans ; " Curiosities of War, and Military Studies," by Thomas Carter, Adjutant-General's Office; and " Chro- nicles of an Old Oak," by Emily Taylor, with illustrations by Anderson.

Messrs. Triibner and Co. likewise have some very attractive new books in the press. The chief of these are a " Bibliothees Japonica, or De- scriptive List of Works illustrative of Japan and the Japanese, from 1542 to the Present Time," edited, with critical and historical notes, by Dr. G. M. Asher ; a new translation of Basile's " Pentameron," by Octave Delepierre; a new version of Goethe's " Reynard the Fox," by T. J. Arnold, with illustrations from designs of Wilhelm von Kaulbach ; and the first volume of a " Dictionary of English Etymology," by Hensleigh Wedgwood, Esq.

The Prince Consort is stated to have subscribed the sum of a hundred guineas towards a proposed Humboldt foundation. The plan of this in- stitution originated some time ago at Berlin, and consists chiefly in awarding prizes and annual stipends to students of physical science of every nation and country. A considerable sum has already been col- lected for this purpose throughout Germany, and among the dispersed members of the nationality on the Continent.

In fulfilment of his intention announced in January, 1858, Mr. Mudie has added more than 200,000 volumes to his library during the past and present seasons. The following classified list of works put in circulation by him since January, 1858, may be regarded with interest, as it indicates, to some extent, the relative circulation of works of various classes in our current literature.—History and Biography, 56,472 volumes ; Travel and Adventure, 25,552; Fiction, 87,780 ; Miscella- neous, including Works of Science and Religion, and the principal Reviews, 46,250 ; making a total of 216,054 volumes.

M. Camille Paganel, a young French historical writer, has just pub- lished, through Pion, Paris, a " Histoire de Joseph II., Empereur d'Allemagne," which is said to evince great research and an impartial spirit.

Victor Hugo's long-expected and lately much-puffed epic poem, "La Legende des Sidcles," was issued on Wednesday, by Michel Levy freres. It is in two volumes, octavo ; price fifteen francs.

Messrs. Didier and Co. have just published an antiquarian work by M. H. de La Villemarqud, entitled "Les Romans de la Table-Ronde, et lea Contes des Anciens Bretons." It appears from an anticipatory notice of this work which appeared lately in the Bibats that the author denies the British origin of the Arthurian legends, and ascribes them to the troubadours of Provence.

Two other notable books which havejust left the Paris press are the " Memoires d'un deports a la Guyane Francaise," by M. Alexandre de Lamotte; and the collection of letters written by M. Edmond Texier to the Bieck during the late war, now published under the title of " Chro- nique de la Guerre."

The establishment of a great daily paper, entitled La Gazette du Nord, and subventioned by the Russian Government, is spoken of in Paris circles as likely to take place within a short time. The chief editor and ostensible proprietor of this journal is to be M. Gabriel de Rumme, a Russian gentleman, who lately accompanied the Grand Duke Constantine in his Mediterranean excursion.

The Germans are making great preparations for the celebration of the centenary. birthday of Schiller on the 10th of November next. Already the majority of the papers are filled with proclamations and proposals for the fête, which is to extend over at least three days ; and poems are coming in at such a rate as entirely to eclipse our late Burns centenary enthusiasm.

A " Geschichte der Miliar-Architektur des friihern Mittelalters in Deutschland" (History of Military Architecture in the early part of the Middle Ages in Germany), by G. H. von Hochfelden, Major-General in the service of Baden, has just been published by Ebner and Seubert, Stuttgart.

An important work on New Zealand, containing a complete geogra- phical, topopnphical, and geological description of the country, by Dr. Ferdinand Hochstetter, is announced among the forthcoming books of the German press. The author is said to have devoted nearly a year to the exploration of the island in all directions.

The second volume of a not very flattering " Life of Napoleon III." has appeared at Stuttgart. The part now published brings the history of the French Emperor up to 1848, and includes his trial before the House of Peers, and his imprisonment and escape from Ham. A mutual society for the help and assistance of literary men and their families has been formed at Vienna, under the name of " Concordia." Dr. Francis Schuselka, a well-known author, has been elected first chair- man of the institution.

The author of " Sustine et Abstine," a book lately mentioned in our column of Literary News as having made some sensation on account of its origin, has now been discovered. It is Prince Vincent von Auers- perg, one of the wealthiest members of the Austrian nobility.

Among books on their way to us from the United States, if not ac- tually arrived, are a Life of Alexander von Humboldt, in one volume, by Bayard Taylor, and "The-Book of the First American Chess Congress," by D. W. Fiske, M.A., assisted by Paul Morphy.

" MASTERLY INAorrirrv."—This expression was used by the late John C. Calhoun, in a debate in the Senate of the United States upon the acqui- sition of Cuba, in which he alleged that when the proper tune came Cuba would gravitate towards the United States, and that in the meanwhile the policy of the United States was a masterly inactivity. I have lately heard that the phrase was wed in the British House of Commons during the first French Revolution. The idea seems to be found in a sentence in one of the Hebrew prophets : " His strength is to sit atill."—Notes and Queries.