21 AUGUST 1841, Page 18

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

From July 3Ist to August 19th.

Booxs.

Amenities of Literature, consisting of Sketches and Characters of Eng- lish Literature. By J. D'Interni, D.C.L., F.S.A. In three volumes. The Moor and the Loch ; containing practical hints on Highland Sports, and notices of the habits of the different creatures of game and prey in the mountainous districts of Scotland ; with instructions in river, burn, and loch-fishing. By JOHN COLQUHOUN. Second edition. Sturwer ; a Tale of Mesmerism. To which are added, other Sketches from Life. By ISABELLA F. liOraER. In three volumes.

Isidora, or the Adventures of a Neapolitan ; a Novel. By the Author of the "Pope and the Colonnas," &c. In three volumes.

Essays, by R. W. Emerson, of Concord, Massachusetts. With Preface by THOMAS CARLYLE.

The Critic in Parliament and in Public since 1835.

[A series of reminiscences of the principal debates in Parliament since 1835, with sketches of the leading speakers, and quotations from their speeches. These passing panoramic views are followed by a somewhat similar survey of the Law Courts; with this difference, that in the Courts the leading advocates form the principal figure, particular cases being only brought forward to illus- trate the persons, whilst in Parliament the debates are the principal topics, and the speakers only noticed in connexion with them. Sketches of some religions meetings and of the Corn-law Convention follow, but on a smaller scale. The writer is apparently a reporter; and though his judgments are impartial and just enough in the main, they seem rather like the floating opinions of a body of men, than the deliberate and self-formed criticisms of an individual. HIS descriptive words especially are often of this character, rather expressing indis- criminate praise or general admiration than the exact quality which the person. possesses. The book, however, runs rapidly over a variety of men and events ; which, besides their historical nature, have something in the character of gossip. It bears a general resemblance to Mr. GRANT'S Random Recollections, but is written in a higher vein.] The Difficulties of Elementary Geometry, especially those which concern the straight line, the plane, and the theory of parallels. By FRANCIS WILLIAM NEWMAN, formerly Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. [This book is one of the indications which meet us every day of a reviving spirit for the cultivation of pure geometry—the geometry of figure as contra- distinguished from algebraical analysis. Affectation or ignorance alone can incline any one to undervalue the modern analysis; but when presented to the exclusion of the severer modes of the old geometry, it is calculated to de- grade the science to a mere mechanical process. It is gratifying at the same time to observe, that a spirit of inquiry and improvement is creeping in among our geometers—that instead of resting satisfied with the old foundations, they are seeking to extend and adjust them better. Colonel THOMPSON has la- boured assiduously in this direction ; and the author of the work now before us treads in his footsteps in no spirit of servile imitation. The Difficulties.of Elementary Geometry deserves attention, as a creditable tentamen in the way of giving more precision and stability to the substructure of geometry.] The Student's Self-Instructing French Grammar; consisting of twelve

progressive lessons, wherein the parts of speech are exemplified in con- versational phrases; also, fables, anecdotes, and bon mots, in French and English, with pronunciation. By D. M. Azar), French Master at

the Greek Street Academy, Soho; Author of" Sketches in France," &e. [To write a self-instructing grammar, as far as the principles of grammar are concerned, is not difficult : all the intellectual part of grammar may be self-taught, if the student has sufficient ability and determination. The par- ticular feature in this little book is, that it professes to teach pronunciation without a master; and we conceive sounds to be that thing above all others "which cannot be declared by precept." A sort of rough approach may in many cases, no doubt, be made to the pronunciation ; but the niceties and difficulties, for which alone assistance is required in any thing, cannot be re- presented at all; or if the corresponding signs should approach sufficiently to enable a person who knows the sounds to repeat them from the lesson, the ignorant will probably sound them wrong, on the principle of the proverb "There is more room to miss than to hit." Even in such words as he Can approach to, his articulation will be so strange and laboured as to make his whole pronunciation a caricature.] One Single Rule determining the French Genders; illustrated by four ver- sified lines, the Reign of Napoleon and the History of Elizabeth. By ACHILLES ALBITES, A.B. and LL.B. of the University of Paris, Pro- fessor of the French Language and Literature, Author of "Les Siecles," "The Authors of France,' &c.

[The four versified lines which contain the rule are the following: "Toils les Noms en Co:ism:NE — en VOYELLE sonore, Et cetia termini's eu — ice, ide, tie — ire, ogne. ore, ale, ore, ge — me, pie, sque — ste, as — sout &lemons'.

Ceuz en — aison, ion, a —Tons mitres — FEICIN1278."

This is a great improvement on the old rules for learning the different gen- ders of nouns, as it saves the pupil much time and trouble. There are some eases in which the same substantive is used in both genders ; but these may soon be learned by reading attentively the two histories at the end of the book,— one of NapolEon, which contains none but masculine nouns, and the other of Queen Elizabeth, with only feminine nouns. Upon the whole, a pupil who has made a trial of it, (the best test,) informs us that the Single Rule will certainly prove a considerable aid in the acquirement of one of the difficulties of the French language.] The British Class-Book; or Exercises in Reading and Elocution, selected almost entirely from the works of the best modem authors, and de- signed for the use of schools and families. By the Reverend HUGH BENTLEY.

[A well-chosen selection of prose and verse, in which modem authors predo- minate, but not to the exclusion of older writers.]

The Storm, and other Poems. By FRANCIS BENNOCH. [There is imagery, fluency, and smoothness in these poems ; but they are de- ficient in matter. The only poem of any length, " The Storm," is the story of an Irish youth who came to Britain, apparently to look about him, and perished in a snow-storm in Scotland ; on which his widowed mother went mad and died. The incident, in the hands of an artist, might have sufficed for a few stanzas ; but Mr. BED:ROC!' has expanded it into three parts, and told the tale regularly " all through," as the children say. The deficiency of matter is not so conspicuous in the miscellaneous poems, from their being shorter ; but they want novelty of thought to separate them from the general run of occa- sional rhymings : the best are those on Scottish subjects.] Shakesperiana • a Catalogue of the Early Editions of Shakspere's Plays, and of the Commentaries and other publications illustrative of his works. By JAMES ORCHARD HALLIWELL, Esq., F.R.S., F.S.A., &c.

[A little volume indispensable to everybody who wishes to carry on any in- quiries connected with SHAKSPERE, or who may have a fancy for Shaksperian bibliography. It contains a list of the editions of the single plays and poems of SHAKSPERE, as well as of his entire works, and a copious, perhapa a com- plete list of publications written about him in a separate form.]

The Visiter's Guide to the Sights of London.

[Upon the whole, this is a useful and intelligent compilation' with too much of mere cataloguing, but a good deal of lively information. Hampton Court and the British Museum are the best-described. The omission of dry details of all the monuments in St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey, noticing only the most striking, would be an improvement ; and by careful revision many redun- dancies might be removed and deficiencies supplied, which would render this an excellent vade-mecum for the sight-seer.] A Hand-Book for the National Gallery. By FELIX SUMMERLY.

[A creditable attempt to supply the want of a cheap and popular guide to the National Collection of Pictures; but susceptible of considerable improvement. The fact that among the half a million of visitors during the last year, only one out of every seventy-six bought a catalogue, is a proof that the price of the pamphlet sold in the gallery is too high : and though high-priced, its in- formation is scanty and imperfect. Ibis little hand-book, for half the money, includes a better list of pictures, with some particulars re-

specting the painters besides. Its principal defect is, that it gives no description of the pictures—an essential to the utility of a catalogue for the unlearned ; to whom, by the way, some homely but sensible advice is ad- dressed in the introduction. The compiler confounds critical comment and ex- patiation with description : what the mass of visiters want is a simple and concise explanation of the nature of the subject, without any opinion as to the painter's style of treating it, except in remarkable cases : in the instances of mythological and legendary themes, it is necessary to supply the want of classical and other lore which only the few possess ; and a brief account of the person or scene represented in the portraits and views is also desirable. This is here and there done, though not always in a satisfactory manner : to accom- plish it completely, would add little to the bulk of the pamphlet and much to Its usefulness.] The Natural History of Marsupialia or Pouched Animals. By G. R. WATERHOUSE, Esq., Curator of the Zoological Society of London. Illustrated by thirty-six coloured plates, with Portrait and Memoir of Barclay. (Naturalist's Library—Mammalia, Vol. XI.) The Grave-yards of London; being an exposition of the physical and moral consequences inseparably connected with our unchnstian and pestilential custom of depositing the dead in the midst of the living; with the examinations of the Author upon this highly important sub- ject, before a Select Committee of the House of Commons. By GEORGE ALFRED WALKER, surgeon, Author of " Gatherings from Grave-yards," &c. [An abridgment of Mr. WALKER'S larger work, containing the most striking facts illustrative of the mischiefs which arise from the crowded state of the London burial-grounds.] The Parliamentary Pocket Companion for 1841, (ninth year;) including a complete Biographical Dictionary of the new House of Commons. By CHARLES R. Donn, Esq., Author of " The Peerage, Barouetage, Knightage," &c.

Painter's Parliamentary Guide for 1841.

A Manual of Queen Victoria's Second Parliament, and of the late Ge- neral Election.

[The great number of new Members in the present House of Commons occa- sions a run upon this branch of" useful knowledge" at the opening of the ses- sion. By far the best of the teachers is the Parliamentary Companion, edited by Mr.DODD; which has gone on improving every year since its first appearance. It is only by reiterated corrections that accuracy and completeness can be attained in compilations of this kind : Mr. DODD has taken every occasion of adding fresh information, and making typographical improvements until he has brought his Companion near to perfection as a portable store of? Parliamentary statistics.]

Three Memoirs on the Development and Structure of the Teeth and Epi-

thelium; read at the Ninth Annual Meeting of the British Association for the Encouragement of Science, held at Birmingham in August 1839; with diagrams exhibited in illustration of them. By ALEX- ANDER NASMYTH, F.L.S., F.G.S., Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, &c.

SERIALS.

Vie Poetical Works of Alexander Pope. (Smith's Standard Library.)_ The Christian Traveller, Part L—" Western Africa."

[We do not exactly comprehend the title of this work ; for it appears to draw its information indiscriminately from all travellers, whether business, science, discovery, or religion, was the motive principle which induced the wanderer to sojourn in strange lands. The opening chapter, indeed, discusses the question of civilization, in the sense used by the Missionary Societies ; and prefers, we think justly, to call what they mean, "humanization," being an advancement of the individual man in a moral sense; whereas a high degree of civilization may exist without it, as in the ancient world. The author also makes use of information collected by same of the Catholic Missionaries to the coast of Africa: but, beyond this, the only symptom of religious feeling is a sermon- izing kind of air, which gives a character of prosiness to the narrative.

The subject of the present part is Western Africa; by which the compiler means the region extending from the Senegal to Cape Palmas : it gives a curious and intelligent enough picture of the country and its inhabitants, drawn from a variety of sources, and frequently enlivened by personal incidents occurring to the traveller.]

Poems by William Cullen Bryant. (Standard Library.) [One of Mr. SMITH'S cheap reprints, and a very useful one to the readers of poetry. Here they may have for a shilling the collected works of one of the best of the American poets; who has at last, the New York preface tells us, published his productions in a volume on account of the approbation they met with in a fugitive state.] The History, Life, and Campaigns of Charles the Twelfth, King of Sweden. From the French of M. DE VOLTAIRE. (Standard Library.) [This republication has a few notes pointing to changes which have occurred since VOLTAIRE wrote. The translation is idiomatic enough in character, although some of the happy expressions of the original suffer. There is one strange though slight blunder, arising from too great a freedom and too great a closeness. In the introduction, VOLTAIRE wrote " Entre les tyrans et be bons rois sont lea conquerans, mais plus approchans des premiers" : the trans- lator transposes the order of the sovereigns, but retains that of the reference- " Conquerors are of a description between good kings and tyrants, but they approximate nearer to the first than the last" ; which entirely reverses what VOLTAIRE said.] Melte Brun's and Balbi's Systems of Geography Abridged, Part III. D'Aubigne's History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century. Trans- lated from the French by WALTER K. KELLY, Esq., B.A. of Trim College, Dublin. Part II. Containing the second volume of the ori- ginal. (Popular Library of Modern Authors. Copyright editions.) Governesses, or Modern Education, by Madame B. RIOFREY. Nos. VIL and VIII.

British Butterflies and their Transformations, No. XIII. Cumming's Fox's Book of .71Iartyrs, Part VII. Knight's Store of Knowledge for All Readers, Part IL London, Part V.

Johnson's Philosophic Nuts, No. VIIL

PERIODICALS.

Magazines for August—Asiatic Journal, Surveyor, Engineer and Archi- tect, Polytechnic Journal, Floricultural, Florist's Journal, Mirror, Musical World, Dude Light.

Law Magazine, No. LIII.

PICTORIAL ILLUSTRATIONS AND PRINTS.

The Park and the Forest. By J. D. HARDING.

[This beautiful volume of studies of trees in connexion with landscape scenery, lithographed by Mr. HARDING in a new style imitative of his'original sketches in crayon and sepia, was noticed under the head of Fine Arts a fort-

night back. (Spectator, No. 684.) The merits of the work were then so fully entered upon that we have now only to acknowledge the receipt of the

volume, and pay it a passing tribute of admiration.]

George Cruikshank's Omnibus, No. IV. Scenery and Antiquities of Ireland Illustrated, Part VII. Canadian Scenery Illustrated, Part XVIIL Illustrated Shakspere, Part XXVIL Sibson's Illustrations of Master Humphrey's Clock, No. XV. Bussey's Pictorial History of France, Parts 11. and IIL Pictorial History of England, Part L1V. Pictorial Edition of Shakspere, Part XXXV.—" Julius Caesar."

PAMPHLETS.

A Letter to his Royal Highness Prince Albert, on his establishment of an Annual Prize at Eton College, for the encouragement of Modern Lite- rature. By an Etonian. Two Lectures upon Jewish Claims; delivered at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, on March 17th and April 196, 1841. By THOMAS O'BRIEN, Esq., M.A., T.C.D., and Student of Lincoln's Inn, London. Spain in 1841, under the Regency of his Highness General Espartero, Duke of Victory, tkc. &c. Prepared and published by Authority of the Committee of Spanish Bondholders. Remarks on a Paper by Rowland Hill, Esq., on the Results of the New Postage Arrangements ; read before the Statistical Society of Lon- don, 17th May 1841. By One who has Examined the Statistics. Abstracts of the First and Second Reports of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on South Australia, with an abridgment of the oral and documentary Evidence.

Fifth Report of the Directors of thc South Australian Company.

A Memoir on the Cotton of Egypt. By GEORGE R. GLIDDON, late United States Consul at Cairo.

The Currency Question Analyzed. By ROBERT GALE, Author of" Na- tional Granaries versus Union Workhouses."

The Corn-laws and the National Debt; or the Parson's Dream and the Queen's Speech. By a Somersetshire Clergyman. A Second Letter to the Agriculturists of the County of Salop. By W. W. WHITMORE, Esq. Oppression, or the Effects of 211inopoly on Family Expenditure ; a Tract Mr the Times. By NV. HEARN, Secretary to the St. George's, South- wark, Anti.Corn-law Association. A Plea for the Total and Immediate Repeal of the Corn-laws; proving that the land-rental has increased about twenty-fold, that the pre- sent income is greater than the value of the freehold before the pro- tective system commenced in 1660, and that the liabilities on land in Scotland do not exceed three per cent. on the rent received by the land- owners.

Low's Division-List of the House of Commons, 2m1 Parliament, 5th year of the reign of Queen Victoria.