30 MAY 1846, Page 19

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

From May 22d to May 28141.

Books.

On Disorders of the Cerebral Circulation; and on the Connexion be- tween Affections of the Brain and Diseases of the Heart. By George Burrows, M.D., late Fellow of Caine College, Cambridge, &c. Sekctions from the Records of the lark Session, Presbytery, and Synod of Aberdeen. (Printed for the Spalding Club.) The Works of David Ricardo, Esq., M.P. With a Notice of the Life and Writings of the Anther. By J. R M`Culloch, Esq. The Church in the Catacombs; a Description of the Primitive Church of Rome, illustrated by its Sepulchral Remains. By Charles Maitland, M.D.

The Count of Monte-Cristo. By Alexandre Dumas. With twenty Illus- trations, drawn on wood by M. Valentin, and executed by the most emi- nent English engravers, under the superintendence of Mr. Charles Heath. In two volumes.

M. Dumas is one of the greatest manufacturers in France—a manufacturer of novels, romances, dramas, memoirs, &c., &c. He has a factory for the purpose, in which divers young parsons, his pupils, are at work; and diligently are they occupied. For this plan he has illustrious precedent, in the great Italian painters: you cannot define the limits where the work of Raphael finished and that of his pupils began;' nor can you always tell, in the works of M. Dumas, which is in

ration, the master pen or the apprentiee: Raphael reigned over all, and so does

exander the great fiction-maker. For M, DORM is really great His system has indeed resulted in producing indifferent,works; but he has also produced some that are admirable in their way. The Count of Monte-Cristo--which first ap- peared in numbers, continued from day to day in the fenilleton of the Journal des Dibats—is among the best. In abundance and variety of incident it is marvellous. It unites the wild fancy of the Fairy or the Arabian tale with the artistic indivi- duality of character belonging to the modern romance. The hero is a young sailor, who becomes unconsciously implicated in the intrigues of Napoleon at Elba; is sacrificed to save other highly-related conspirators, and immured in prison; manages to escape; is endowed by a fellow prisoner with the knowledge of a hidden treasure; and becomes master of the fate of those who wronged him, dealing retribution. The Main story is diversified by a multitude of incidents all bearing on the great end. The verisimilitude of the elaboration is as masterly as the fertility of the invention is surprising; and the descriptions of persons, accessories, and scenery, are as vivid as pictures. The wood-cuts, after designs by M. Valentin, are less carefully executed than the author's work; but they are full of truth and life, and the character of the several personages is very hap- lily caught. So far as we have read the translation here and there, it seems to be praiseworthy for its fidelity and spirit] Llewelyn's Heir- or North Wales its Manners, Customs, and Superstitions during the Last Century. Illustrated by a Story founded on fact. In three volumes.

[The scene of this novel is laid chiefly in Wales during the early part of the last century; though the two heroes serve under Marlborough, and are transplanted to the Continent The main purpose of the writer, the display of "manners, customs, and superstitions," has somewhat interfered with the structure of the fiction; the story standing still for the introduction of local usages, as well as being contrived with a view to introduce them. This, with a literal though truth- ful style of composition, imparts something of heaviness to the work; and an at- tention to matter-of-fact tradition, without making those changes which art re- quires, impairs the completeness and effect of a popular fiction. It is, however, a real work, with more material and original knowledge than half the manufac- tured novels that appear in these days.] The Ransom.; a Tale of the Thirteenth Century, founded on a Family Tra- dition. By. Miss Laura Jewry. In three volumes.

[The " rim:worn " a lady's hand, which the heroine cuts off and sends to a Sa- racen Emir, to release her betrothed; though tradition says it was done by a wife to rescue le;r husband. This incident points to the time of the Crusades; and the one selected by the fair writer is the fifth crusade, which took place under Saint Louis, about the middle of the thirteenth century. The story is very well written ; there is a due proportion of difficulties, dangers, crosses, and crimes, with the usual characters of the period—outlaws„ knights, monks, and what not; but the whole has too much resemblance to the nineteenth century, or its books of roinauces, to challenge criticism as an imitation of life in the thirteenth.]

Laneton Parsonage; a Tale for Children, on the practical use of a portion

of the Church Catechism. By the Author of "Amy Herbert," &c.

Edited by the Reverend W. Sewell, BE)., Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford. [The object of this work is to expound the Catechism; and the structure of the tale is well enough designed for that purpose, though there Is too little incident and too much discourse. The execution is both elegant and able, especially in the discrimination and exhibition of character among the little ladies who may be called the heroines of the tale.] Locrine, and other Poems. By Thomas Holmes.

[Locrine is a versified story of Sabrina, whose father Loerine was the successor of Brutus the Trojan. Some of the other poems in this volume are on similar remote themes; which require a very peculiar genius to impart much of nature or interest. The execution of Mr. Holmes is worthy of better subjects than he has chosen; but whether he could combine his flow of versification with fresh and fitting matter, is a question. Some writers seem to beoverpowered by weight, and lose their faculty of fluency when employed on solid materials.]

The History of Egypt, from the Earliest Times till the Conquest by the Arabs, A. D. 640. By Samuel Sharpe- A new edition.

[Mr. Sharpe is well known to the world for various historical publications on Egypt, from the first known Kings, in the (conjectural) year 2000 s.c., to the final overthrow of the Imperial power by the Mahometans, in the year 640. These volumes, which appeared, we think, in various sizes, and the last of which we no- ticed in the autumn of 1842, embracing the history under the Romans, are now collected into a handsome quarto, and will form a necessary book for the library; being the only history which embraces the results of the discoveries of modern re- search and ingenuity.]

The Popes of Rome ' • their Church and State in the Sixteenth and Seven- teenth Centuries. By Leopold Ranks, Professor Extraordinary of History in the University of Berlin. Translated from the German Edition, with an Introductory Essay, by the Reverend J. H. Merle D'Aubigne, D.D., Author of " The History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century," &c. Volume L

[Two translations of this work are already before the world; one of which, by Mrs. Austin, we noticed at considerable length on its appearance six years ago. The present undertaking is designed for" popular circulation"; its chief literary novelty is a Protestant preface, by Dr. D'Aubigne.]

The late Secession from, the Church of Scotland. By the Reverend James Macfarlane, AM., Minister of Duddingstone. [This is a publication on the side of the Established Church of Scotland, and a very able one. Mr. Macfarlane first of all traces the cause of the Secession to wild and rampant spirit of "zeal without knowledge," that had sprung up in Scotland before any of the questions were raised that were made the plea of the Seceders. He then goes over those questions in which the General Assembly and the law were at issue; and shows that they were not such as to affect in any way the independence or Christian character of an established church. The to-, intender of the book is devoted to the story of the Secession, and an account of the Seceders; done with some dramatic spirit, and the due proportion of theologi- cal acid, but well concealed in a proper quantum of sweet-oil.] Suggestions offered to the Theological Student under Present Difficulties. live Discourses preached before the University of Oxford. By A. C. Tait, D.C.L., Head Master of Rugby School, late Fellow and Tutor of Baliol [A series o sermons preached at Oxfind during the late heaving of opinion at that University, with a view of directing the theological student how to avoid the errors of superstitious Romaniem, German Rationalism, or actual Infidelity, and to pursue his theological studies in a proper course. The views of Dr. Tait incline to the Evangelical section of the Church; and his sermons are clistin- gnishedby a.spirit at-once rational and religious. The suggestions to theological students are, however, too general to avail as particular directions.] An Account of the Religious Houses formerly situated on the Eastern aide of the River Witham; being the substance of certain Papers read before the Lincoln Topographical Society, in the year 1842. With numerous illustrative Notes. By the Reverend George Oliver, D.D., Incumbent of the Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton, &e. [The text of this little book contains a brief sketch of the history of the old Romish religious establishments on one bank of the Witham, prefaced by a ge- neral view of monkery and the monkish employments. The notes, however, are more extensive, and perhaps more amusing than the text, as they illustrate at large its mere allusions or class words. For this purpose, extracts are frequently made from legal records, chroniclers, or official documents, throwing light upon the manners and practices of the religions personages of ancient times.] Village Tales from the Black Forest. By Berthold Auerbach- Translated from the German by Meta Taylor. [Half-a-dozen tales descriptive of German peasant life and character in the region of the 'Black Forest, translated by Mrs. Taylor, a German lady, into Eng • h which no one would suppose was that of a foreigner. The incidents, characters,' and manners, are evidently drawn from life, and portray the feelings of the pea- sentry, as well as their particular social system, which Mrs. Taylor explains in mr introduction: but the tales themselves are somewhat deficient in artistical com- pleteness—too mere copies of nature.] Gauge Evidence. The History and Prospects of the Railway System, Mtge. tnited by the Evidence given before the Gauge Commission. By Simnel Sidney, Author of " Bristol a Free Port," &c. With a Map. [An abridgment of the evidence taken by the Gauge Commissioners. The pee- of shortening has, apparently, been effected by means of simple curtailment There is also a preface, giving a very rapid review of the rise of railways in this country, and of the way in which the question of gauges originated. A coloured map illustrates the proportionate extent occupied by existing railways of the dif- ferent widths, broad and narrow. The whole book is conceived in the interest of the Narrow Gauge.] French Domestic Cookery, combining elegance with economy. With many engravings. [This is a translation from a new French publication, which has had such SEDUM as to run through thirty editions of 80,000 copies! Economy is said to be one great recommendation of the receipts; which seems to be a true claim so far as we can form a judgment—always assuming care, and devotion to the business, the want of which are the cause of half the failures in cookery and other things. Some Italian, German, Spanish, and other receipts are added; and the book con- tains instructions for preparing and laying out the table, and carving the dishes, though after a Frenchified fashion—think of the wing of a chicken divided into three pieces! There are also hints for managing and introducing the wines—the last too general to be of much use.] Pompeii; its Past and Present State, its Public and Private Buildings, &c. Compiled in part from the great Work of M. Mazois; the Museo Borbonko; the Publications of Sir W. Gell, and T. L. Donaldson, Esq.; but chiefly from the MS. Journals and Drawings of William Clarke, Esq., Architect. In two volumes.

[Nearly three hundred illustrations on steel or wood form the principal feature of this publication: it looks very like one of the Useful Knowledge Society's publi- cations on the same subject, issued a good many years ago.]