PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

BOOKS.

Tau event of the week is of course the long-expected appearance of Mac- aulay's History ; of which some account, with copious extracts, is given in preceding pages. Other historical or economical works of merit or interest, or both, havebeen published. Foremost, is the completion of that valuable book Dean Milman's "History of Latin Christianity "; destined, or we are much mistaken, to as enduring a life as the production of his more popular and flashy competitor. The Letters to and from Joseph Bonaparte are a curious reper- tory of secret history and biography ; though the edge of their freshness has been partly taken off by notices in the Edinburgh Review. Mr. Poulton's New History of England is of a lower grade than the other histories, and seems to be constructed on a plan which errs as much on one side as the regular oldfaahioned narratives do on the other. "Battles by the sword, the brilliant achievements of arts and arms, and the follies and vices of kings," may not comprise the history of a country, but they go far towards distin- guishing its nationality ; and it is in such things that the national character very distinctly appears. Indeed, Kr. Poulton has not always been able to carry out his own idea : the reign of William the Conqueror is little more than a history of the monarch. Last, though not least, there is in Political Economy Dugald Stewart's posthumous Lectures to record.

The History of England from the Accession of James the Second. By Thomas Babington Macaulay. Volumes ILI. and IV.

History of Latin Christianity, including that of the Popes to the Pontificate of Nicholas V. By Henry Hart "Litman, D.D., Dean of St. Paul's. Volumes IV., V., and VI.

The Confidential Correspondence of Napoleon Bonaparte with his Brother Joseph, sometime King of Spain. Selected and translated, with Explanatory Notes, from the " Memoires du Roi Joseph." In two volumes.

A New History of England, Civil, Political, and Ecclesiastical. By G. S. Poulton.

lectures on Political Economy. Now first published. Volume I. To which is prefixed, Part Third of the Outlines of Moral Philosophy. By Dugald Stewart, Esq. Edited by Sir William Hamilton, Bart. (Collected Works of Dugald Stewart, Volume VIII.) Three single-volumed tales, descriptive of contemporary life abroad or at home, are before us. Tolls is a story of Italian manners and Italian vii- limy, from the French point of view. The tale is one of love and betroth- ment, baffled by the weakness of the lover and the artful opposition of his family, assisted by an unscrupulous secretary. It is clever in its manage- ment, or, as the old critics would have said, its intrigue, and smart in its style ; but fiction is not the forte of II. About. His dialogues want force and nature ; he is deficient in the art of inspiring interest in his persons and their fortunes.

The object of Miss Kavanagh in Rachel Gray is to excite the sympathy of the reader in the troubles of the lowly, and in humble piety shrouded in a plain form and unanimated by intellectual spirit. Rachel has a father who neglects her, a mother-in-law who though well-meaning is of an annoying temper ; she herself has to struggle with. narrow circumstances, and hard work, but is sustained through all by religious feeling. The story is told with the writer's wonted power of composition ; but the subject is made rather too much of, and the style pitched in too high a key ; perhaps inci- dents are looked at too much from the writer's point of view, and promi- nence given to sentimental troubles, that would not produce the same feeling in Rachel Gray as in Julia Kavanagh.

Under the rather awkward framework of a bird's autobiography, The Owlet of Owlatone Edge contains sketches, in the main laudatory of those genuine sisters of charity the "parsons' wives" of England. With the sketches of the ladies are mingled some notices of their husbands, and those parochial difficulties with which the clergy, especially if poor, have to contend. The Owlet is-evidently familiar with his subject, as well as with the scenery and the people among whom the subject leads. Ho has a quick eye for the virtues or weaknesses of men and women, and a keen relish for the beauties of English landscape, whether natural or edificial. What he sees, too, he can describe in a clear, picturesque, and effective way.

Tolla : a Tale of Modern Rome. By Edmond About. Translated by L. C. C.

Ilachd Gray : a Tale founded on Fact. By Miss Julia Kavanagh, Au- thor of "Nathalie," &c.

The Owlet of Owlstone Edge : his Travels, his Experience, his Lueu- brations. By the Author of "S. Antholin's," 8ce.

As might be expected from the close approach of Christmas, publications of the nature of gift-books still continue. The most striking in all points is a very handsome edition of the Irish Melodies, with the autobiographical pre- face. The typography is elegant, the dress green and gold ; the engraved illustrations are numerous. Their artistical merit varies. Two landscapes by Creswick bring "the Meeting of the Waters" and " lnnisfallen agreeably before the eve. Among the more dramatic artists, the names of Mediu, Millais, and Shilready appear : and there is certainly nothing con- ventional in their pictures, but some of them are a shade too natural, per- haps too Milesian.

The Drawingroom Sybil is also a handsome book. It consists of quo- tations from poets old and new, famous or obscure, and so far is a sort of ele- gant extracts. These extracts are classed under heads, whose titles corre- spond somewhat with the question-and-answer cards that amuse a social cir- cle. The same enjoyment is to be got out of this volume, though we, being ill at reading riddles, do not exactly see how.

Mrs. Alaric A. Watts's Birth-day Council is a very agreeable little tale, designed to point the important moral, that the youngeat or poorest among us may be of use to others. The story differs from most other juvenile tales in its truth and naturalness, as well as in the reality of its examples.

The Christmas Tree, as the title indicates, is a selection of short tales from the German, translated as exercises years ago, and now sent forth in conse- quence of the pleasure they have given to youth to whom they have been read. The old story of Puss in Boots derives its chief characteristic as a separate publication from the graphic illustrations of Otto Speckter. The Royal Historical Game of Cards is designed to familiarize the players with the chronology and succession of English monarchs. The round game is ingenious, and easy when the centuries are remembered in which the re- spective sovereigns reigned.

Irish Melodies. By Thomas Moore. Illustrated with Engravings from Drawings by Eminent Artists.

The Drawingroom Sybil.

The Birth-day Council; or How to be Useful. By Mrs. Alarie A. Watts.

The Christmas Tree, and other Tales. Adapted from the German by Frances Kemble.

Puss in Boots. Illustrated by Otto Speckter. New edition.

The Royal Historical Game of Cards.

History of Ancient Greece. (Cliambers's Educational Course. Edited by W. and R. Ohambers.)—The compiler of this rapid summary of the history of Greece has chiefly followed Grote for both facia and opinions. As "the space did not admit of doing justice to every character or relating every event," he has rather "studied to bring out the leading features of the his- tory," than to accumulate particulars ; though yet greater breadth might have been an advantage. The book is well illustrated by wood-cuts.

Miscellanies Prose and Verse. By W. M. Thackeray.—This second vo- lume of ThaclZeray's Miscellanies might as appropriately have stood among the gift-books; if laughter and humour, and good, sound, worldly sense, embodied in fun and satire, be seasonable things. The volumes con- tain the first of Mr. Thackemy's novels that attracted public attention, the Yellowplush Memoirs ; as well as the Diary of Jeames, and skits, sketches, and essays of various kinds on various subjects, but with life flowing through them all.