2 JANUARY 1830, Page 13

THE REVIEWER'S TABLE.

I. Jefferson's Memoirs and Correspon- Ireland. Second Series. By J. J.

denee, Vols. 3 and 4. 'Macgregor. 2. we:wet:IA(11M of Travels in the East. 7. Tales of the Classics. By John Came. 8. Bertha's Visit to her Uncle. 3 vols. 3. Constable's Miscellany,No. 49—Life of 9. Christian Examiner. No. Hernan Cortez. By Don T. de Trueba. 10. Manual of the Weather for 1830. By

4. No. 50 —Chi- . George Mackenzie. valry and the Crusades, Vol.1. liy Dr. 11. Address to Parliament on the West

Stebbing. India Question.

5. Library of Entertaining Knowledge, 12. Divtionary of the Gaelic Language.

Vol. 3, Part 2.—Insect Architecture. 13. New Topographical Dictionary. By

C. True Stories from the Ilistory of John Gorton. No. I.

I. Tim two concluding volumes of JEFFERSON'S Correspondence con- tain his letters from 1789 down to the 24th June I826,—which is the date of the answer of the venerable old man, then eighty-four years of age, to the invitation of the Washington Committee on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary (of American Independence. These four volumes of correspondence constitute the most valuable gift that has been pre- sented to the historian and the politician in our days. There are be- sides, so much sound sense, and so much honest feeling in every page, that they may be perused with interest by the least reflective of gene- ral readers. JEFFERSON was a sceptic in religion—a pious sceptic, of most unbending resolution, and not less original in his thoughts than bola in the expression of them ; but he was at the same time a man of most affectionate temper, a tender parent, a constant friend, and a° kind neighbour. The fourth volume contains a lithograph fizc simile of the Declaration of American Independence, written by JEFFERSON, with FRANKLV'S and ADAMS'S corrections. It is a most curious and interesting copy of the most important document that ever was penned.

2. Mr. CARNE is a gentleman and a scholar, an intelligent observer of men and things, and one who describes what he observes with truth and sim)licity. There is no affectation of research, no parade of learning about him, but he gives us all the effect of both. We have seldom met a pleasanter volume than his Recollections of the East. It is not all travelling. Mr. CARNE came in contact, as every wan- deer must, with many a curious specimen of humanity ; and his sketches of these are given with a quiet humour that is extremely amusing. Our only regret is that his pictures are not more finished : the outlines are excellent, but we could have wished the details to be more minutely filled in.

3. As the plan of Constable's Miscellany admitted of republications, we think that Dr. ROBERTSON'S account of CORTEZ would have been better than any which a stranger to our language could supply. We are bound at the same time to state, that M. de TRUEBi has per- formed his task fairly, and with competent ability. CORTEZ was as bold as a lion, and perhaps not more disposed to needless acts of cruelty than other warriors ; but when M. de TRUEBA says that "isolated mea- sures of cruelty and even injustice ought not to determine the intrinsic merit or demerit of a great man," he brings forward in behalf of his hero the excuse that every scoundrel in power since the creation is equally entitled to plead.

4. The subject of Chivalry has been treated so ably by Sir WALTER SCOTT, that any other essay upon it can hardly fail to appear spiritless. Dr. STEBBING, to whom the History of Chivalry, as well as that of the Crusades, has been consigned, has made a dull book, out of materials which require only to be simply detailed in order to form an interest-

ing one. Dr. STEBBING-S style—which, for want of a better term, we would call the annual, as it is in those pretty picture-books that it most abounds—is at the same time poor and inflated. We have gorgeous materials—gorgeous trappings—stern Arab—stern Frank— innermost spirit of humanity—records redolent of pure and sweet humanity, and similar commonplaces of schoolboy ambition, in almost every page. These volumes, like their predecessors, are very neatly got up. 5. The materials for the very instructive number of the Library of Entertaining Knowledge entitled " Insect Architecture," have been

carefully selected. The author of these volumes not only places in the most interesting light the labours of former writers, but contributes many novel facts gleaned from his own observation as an attentive student of natural history. The cuts which illustrate this number are many and excellent.

6. We have not seen the first series of True Stories from the His- tory ofireland, The second series, which is now before us, LI written

with simplicity Of style ; and the intermixture of anecdote and tradi- tion renders the narrative not uninteresting. The author is an imitator

of Sir WALTER SCOTT in his Tales of a Grandfather. It is small discredit to say that he is inventori minor. The Irish history is not so favourable to such a work as the Scotch. There are numerous sunny spots in the latter : the former contains little else than diversity of shade. The present series contains the memorabilia of Ireland during the reign of the House of Tunoa,—a busy and bustling time here as well as in the Green Isle.

7. We have now tales of every kind. The Tales of the Classics are inscribed to the Princess VICTORIA, in a dedication which breathes a very proper wish, that her Highness may tread in the "paths of truth." A little truth would not have been misbestowed, in the framing of the title-page. These tales are not written by a lady : they are an indif- ferent prose translation of the Metamorphoses, beginning with Chaos,

and ending with the Apotheosis of Jumus ; in which most of the dull and revolting parts of that celebrated work are preserved, while many

of the finest passages are miserably mangled. The Tales have ap- pended to each, a few notices of the paintings and sculptures to which they have given occasion. This part of the work is of some value ; in other respects it is a silly production. As a translation of OVID, it is beneath our notice ; and as a guide to Classical Mythology, TOOKE'S Pantheon is greatly superior, and not one-sixth of the price.

8: Bertha' sVisit to her Uncle will prove rather an interesting present to young people. The form, indeed, is none of the best. It is the jour- nal of a young lady sent from Rio Janeiro on a visit to England ; and it presents a rapid sketch of every thing, and more than every thing, that in the course of the year may be supposed to greet the eyes and attract the attention of an intelligent child placed under the guardian- ship of an amiable and enlightened family. The recurring Sundays give occasion to Scriptural dissertation ; and the week-days are spent in investigating the vegetable, mineral, and animal kingdom ; while anec- dotes of various kinds, the whole bound together by the slight tissue of narrative which the relation of the American stranger and her Euro- pean friends supplies, fill up the unoccupied intervals. There are some lapses in the book. The writer speaks of the" golden saxifrage" as a "stone crop," and talks of salt water at Glasgow : but, on the whole, the information he gives is correct, and his style is conversational and agreeable. The book is extremely cheap—only half-a-guinea for three volumes ! This is a feature in any work that deserves especial notice in these times.

9. The Christian Examiner, a monthly magazine published in Dub- lin, is, so far as we know, the only religious periodical that admits light and humorous description into its pages. How far such papers as the "Day at Clonmacnoise " and " Paddy's Dream," which appear in the present number, may be agreeable to the stricter sects of reli- gionists here, we do not know ; but in Ireland we have no doubt they will be found acceptable even to the pious. To the readers of periodi- cal literature in general, both English and Irish, they present an agreeable variety, the more agreeable as they are unexpected in such a place. The Christian Examiner is Anti-Catholic, and properly. so. Opposition to the superstitious doctrines of the Romish church is as just and fitting in a religious journal, as it is wearisome and ridi- culous in a journal dedicated to politics and literature.

10. The Manual of the Weather is an endeavour after an approxima- tion to the discovery of the weather in any future year, from the observa- tion of a series of years past. The cycle, discovered, as he terms it— perhaps we should rather say chosen—by Mr. MACKENZIE, is fifty-four years ; and certainly he has exhibited very curious coincidences as taking place during that period. We strongly recommend his little volume to the attention of men of science, as well as to practical men, whose occupations render even a rough calculation of the coming season a subject of great importance.

11. We do not of course purpose to enter on the subject of West India Slavery here. We merely advert to it for the purpose of recom- mending to the notice of our readers the very sensible pamphlet of Mr. MACDONNEL. There is truth in his observation, that while our own cblonies have been harassed, the colonies of other nations have in consequence been encouraged ; and that the great act of the abolition of the slave-trade has grievously augmented that abominable traffic elseivhere. A beginning must have been made somewhere, however ; and no state was so well fitted by her example to command imitation as England was. We agree also with Mr. MACDONNEL, that much of the prejudice that beset the West India question is clearing away, and that men are now prepared for its sober discussion. We have no doubt his pamphlet will strengthen this desirable disposition in the public. 12. We know very little of Gaelic, but we are so far interested in any language as furnishing the materials by which the operations of the human mind may be most satisfactorily traced, that we wish well to the Gaelic Dictionary, the first part of which is now before us. It is very neatly printed ; and its accuracy is vouched for by the respectable names of its editors, Dr. MACLEOD of Campsie, and Dr. DEWAR of Glasgow—two gentlemen who are imbued with classical as well as Celtic literature, and who might reasonably give currency to a work of more pretension than the present.

13. We have examined the first number of Mr. GORTON'S topogra- phical work. It bears all the marks of that patient investigation dis- played by the author in his Biographical Dictionary. The plan of noting the post-town, and its bearing and distance from the place de- scribed, is a useful peculiarity. The Topographical Dictionary is neatly printed; and the Map of Middlesex, that accompanies the first dumber, is well executed. We commend this work, as giving muCh

tierxiceable information, in a handsome form, at a moderate price.