4 DECEMBER 1858, Page 30

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

The tide of publications has slackened. The principal book of the week, both as regards subject and author, is the treatise "On Naval Warfare with Steam" by her Howard Douglas. The collection of the

' Barns,

On Naval Warfare :title Steam. Dedicated by Special Permission, to Field- Marshal his Royal flightier the•Prince Consort, K.G. Fte. 8‘c. By General Sirlitivvard Douglas, Bart. G.C.B., &b., Ste" F.It.S., Author of a" Treatise

on Naval Gummy ," &b. •

Lectures and Addresses.On Literary and Social Topics. By the late Rev. Frederick W. Robertson, MA., of Brighton.

The Scouring of the White Horse ; or the Long Vacation Ramble of a London Clerk. By the Anther of " Tom Brown's School ,Days." Illustrated by Richard.

,revW0n.

Ai-olden Sisters. A Tale. By the Author of" Dorothy."

David and Samuel with other Poems, original and translated. By John Robert-

son.

The Primeval World. By Rev. Paton J. Gloag. Authorof a "Trea- tise on Justification by Faith," &c.—Another endeavour to reconcile the bf088ie account of Creation -with the received conclusions of geologists ; though the Reverend author rather arrives at his country's cautious non-proven, than the more distinct aye or no of an English verdict. He does not attempt to deny or explain away the leading facts of geology, or the'deductions drawn therefrom as to the enormous age of the world, and he accepts the mosaic " days " as natural days. But he says fresh discoveries iu:e daily takingpiace modifying former opinions ; we have not evenyet sufficient knowledgeto come to acorreet conclusion; suspend your judgment, and be assured that all will come right at last. He also en- ters upon the question of the death of animals as connected with the Falk admitting that death existed in the world before, but denying that the Mosaie narrative affirms it did not. Further he discusses the Deluge in reference to its universality, and leans to the opinion of its limited range.

There is no novelty in The Pnnueval TVorlrl beyond what may be con- tained in these conclusions; and they are reached almost as much by affirmation as by reasoning. The book is in reality a display of the principal facts of geology with the arguments pro and con of the leading writers, who have endeavoured to explain the apparent discrepancies between science and revelation. This is done clearly; but the scientific survey has often been taken before. The novelty is in the mixture of religious or religio-philosophical matter with geology, as an exposition of the benevolence of the evil of death with regard to animals ; which, how- ever, does not alter the fact of the evil, though it may prove thatit might have been greater, and a large portion of which argument is equally applicable to man.

A _Lady's Captivity among Chinese Pirates in the Chinese Seas. Trans- lated from the French of Mademoiselle Fanny Loriot by Amelia B. Ed- wards.—Some four years ago the Parisian papers contained accounts of the capture by Chinese pirates of the ship Caldera " and her crew, among whom was a French lady-passenger. The story of Mademoiselle Loriors captivity .was, however, accompanied by that of her release through the exertions of the authorities of Hongkong, so that the bane and antidote came together. In this shilling volume we have the whole story, told by the lady herself from the first embarkation with her sister at Havre for San Francisco whither she was going on some "commer- cial" speculation ; till her final delivery from the pirates by the marines and blue jackets of the steamer "Ann." The Californian sketches have more novelty for French than English readers; and there is not much in the lady's voyage to China, for it was on her return she was captured. The captivity itself is curious, as a Frenchwoman's vivacious account of what was fearful enough to her excited apprehensions, and might have ended in a fearful reality. Upon the whole, however, the Chinese behaved tolerably. Her substantial grounds of complaint were short commons, con- fined air and insects at night, and a sort of grim jocularity that at first took pleasure in frightening her. In all such cases some regard must be paid to difference of ideas. A Parisian belle would hardly take the agre- mens of life from the Celestial point of view.

A Visit to the New Forest. By Harriet Myrtle. Author of" The Water-Lily," .Ste.—A handsome juvenile book, illustrated by twenty- five wood-cuts after spirited designs by the usual artists in this walk, Harvey, Thomas, Birket Foster, and Harrison Weir. The framework is a family visit of children to Ringwood cottage, New Forest, and the incidents represent rustic amusements and pursuits, as modified by the nature of the country, with retrospective glimpses of the past. William Rufus of course included.

Juan in Rattler. By R. M. Ballantyne. Author of "The Young Fur Traders," &e.—A tale of the Robinson Crusoe class. The youthful hero Martin Rattler is carried out to sea by accident, but is picked up through the exertions of his friend Barney O'llanna.gan, a warm-hearted Irishman with a rich brogue. Their ship is pursued by pirates off the coast of Brazil, but Martin and his friend escape to shore ; and begin a series of adventures in the forests and on the waters of the richest parts of South America, which adventures only end with their embarkation. Some of their doings are singular in their circumstances or aggregation— for the facts appear to be founded on authority; but juvenile readers are not critical.

Mr. Murray has sent forth a handsome new edition of Dr. Words- worth's " Greece " which has been made still more amply "pictorial, descriptive and historical" by the addition of an elaborate away on Greek Art, from the earliest time to the age of the Antonines, by Mr. George Scharf. It is, of course, profusely illustrated, principally from drawings by the author. The appearance of a second edition within two months of the late Henry S. Polehampton's "Memoirs and Diary" show what a hold pri- vate respectability, the domestic affections, and the plain fulffiment of life's duties, have upon the British public. As a picture of India, or the

Addreases-gad Leetareel of the late Frederick Robertson, of ..thighton, will talt.roward the ,reader..for their freshness of thoughti earnestness of, feefieg, and power of penetrating to the very core of a social or moral „„option through all the casings of convention in which it may 'be guriqa. 'The authority obis critical lectures may be more open dalit hut the lectures theraselves are well worth reading. The gitiior of " Toni Brown's Sedrool Days," publishes a book of gehieology dry, in animated fiction dressed. "The Scouring of the white Horse is a dramatic account of the antiquities, traditions, and what not connected with the Berkshire gathering round that celebrated county celebrity, with some modern incidents intermingled with the

antique. siege of Luelcuow,,, this volume may be excelled by several works,„but the Tuatenemed qualities it is. -unequalled, exoept by Mr. Greathed's letters., .

In quite another field of literature, Dr. Whewell has been called upon to publish a third edition of his " Novum Organou Renovatum," te which he has made large additiorts ; and Messrs. Chambers have com- menced bringing out in shilling parts a "carefully revised" reprint of Milner's "Gallery of Nature." The "Treatise on Hysterical Affee- tions " is little more than a tract.' The new edition of the little book, "The Cabinet of Ainusement," is prettily- "'got up."

A Memoir, Letters, and Diary of the Reverend WenryS. Prdehamptso, Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford, Chaplain of Lucknow. Edited by the Reverend Edward Polehampton, M.A., and the Reverend Thomas Steelman Polehampton, M.A., Fellows of Pernliroke College, Oxford. Second Edition. .21"deurn Orpanon Renoratum. By William Whewalk D.D. Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Corresponding Member of the institute of France. Being the Seeded Part of the Philosophy of the Inductive Scientes. The third edition, with large additions, .

The Gallery of Mature: a Pictorial and Descriptive Tour through Creation. By the Reverend Thomas Milner, MA., F.R.G.S. New edition, confolly revised. Parts 1. and IL

A 21reatise °is Hysterical Affections. By George Tate, Surgeon. Third edi- tion, revised.

The• Parents' Cabinet of Amusement and Instruntion. A new edifice.

NEW PERIODICAL.

The increasing importance of our relations -with the Chinese Empire, as well as the opening of Japan, seems to have suggested the establish- ment of a special periodical, of which we have received the first rantabero under the title of the China Telegraph. It proposes to. give a full chro- nicle of events "in connection with China, and the countries, beyond India."