PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED,

Prom March 3d to March 9th.

BOOKS.

History of the House of Commons, from the Convention Parliament of 1688-9 to the passing of the Reform Bill, in 1832. By W. CHARLES TOWNSEND, Esq., A.M., Recorder of Macclesfield. VoL L Memoirs and Correspondence of Francis Horner, M.P. Edited by his Brother, LEONARD HORNER, Esq., F.R.S. In two volumes.

The Notabilities of Wakefield ard its Neighbourhood. By JOHN CAMERON.

[The "Notabilities of Wakefield and its Neighbourhood" consist, in Mr. CAMERON'S estimation, of seven gentlemen ; of whom only Mr. R. MONCE.- TON MILNES and Missionary Woxrr are much known beyond the world of Wakefield; or at least if they be, they are in the roll obscurorum virorum. Upon Mr. MONCIITON MILNES, MT. CAMERON writes a couple of papers, Upon poetry in general, and the poet's poetry in particular: to the rest of the little gods of the local district he only devotes an article a-piece. The treatment of the single themes is very similar to that of the duplex: the vocation which the Deus minor exercises is handled, and then the mode in which he exercises that vocation : thus, in the case of the Reverend Dr. Worsr, there is first Missionaries, and then the Doctor as a Missionary. The style of Mr. CAmExori is a servile imitation of CARLYLE, with here and there a touch of Mr. Jon?: FORSTER ; and though the book is not devoid of good thong now and then, the whole is rather ludicrous, from the contrait htt lofty tone and turgid style and the rather commonplace subjects; it is also not a little heavy, from a like cause. But there is a question beyond the literature, which touches us all: what have these seven gentlemen done that they are to be treated in this way ? What right has Mr. CAMERON to seize upon " Sir Wm. Pilkington, Bart." or " Caleb Crowther. M.D.," or " the Rev. Dr. Naylor," and exhibit them as he has done. The Baronet, indeed, has perpetrated a translation of Scutt.- LEE'S Mary Stuart; and Mr. CAMERON may plead (though we think incor- rectly the title having lapsed) that he has as good a right to put him into a book as any other person into a newspaper. But the two Doctors seem guiltless of publication; and the pillory is an instrument of punishment re- served for the state, where, it is not exploded. From the conversations of Lords BROUGHAM, LYNDHURST, and DENMAN, Some change seems to be about to be made in the laws with a view to the better protection of the person. We would suggest that something should be done at the same time to protect our' more valuable part—" My reputation, Logo, my reputa- tion." We would have a clause allowing no private gentleman to be pane- prized in a book, unless with his consent under his own hand first had and obtained.) Francesca di Faenza ; a Tragedy. By the Right Honourable Lord BEAUMONT, Author of " Paynell," &c. [The scene of this " tragedy " is laid in Italy, during the middle ages, when the country was divided into many small states, each governed by some tyrant, or distracted by rival factions. The Duke of Faenza is of the former class. Ha has murdered the head of the house of Beutivoglio, banished his nephew, and married the youth's betrothed bride. At the time the drama opens, the elderly tyrant has become jealous of his young stile ; and Prince Orsini arrives at Faenza with the exiled Bentivoglio in his suit, disguised as a painter. In a series of not very probable scenes, Bentivoglio attempts the honour of the Dutchess Francesca ; but failing in that, he resolves to murder the Doke From this he is momentarily diverted by the prayers of Francesca : but voices having been heard by the jealous husband, he confines his wife; which further provokes Bentivoglio, and he stabs the Duke whilst about to offer penance at his uncle's tomb : for this he is sent to execution, and the Dutchess to a convent, on some suspicions of participation, which are not cleared up to the play-actors. Well-managed, the story contained good enough elements for a modern play; but the plot is badly constructed, whether we look to stage-business, general probability, or Italian manners at the period. This fault, to some extent, seems to originate with a defective conception of character: the dramatis personae are either abstract representations of certain passions or moods of mind, or puppets speaking at the prompting of the author's convenience ; and his dramatic action may probably fail because he cannot embody men and women acting and discoursing. There is not much of mere description in the lan- guage, and the tone of players' verse is well caught : but the piece has no poetry, and the dialogue is often monologue ; the speakers not pursuing the thread of a discourse so much as uttering independent speeches, to which they get, in debating sense, "a reply." One or two of the lighter scenes are smart and clever in themselves, and there are occasionally shrewd observations well expressed : but, without any falling off perhaps in actual ability, the Francesca di Faenza of Lord BEAUMONT differs as much from the novel of Paynell, by Mr. MILES STAPLETON, as drama differs from pure fiction ; and the faults of both works are traceable to the same sources.] Poems on Slavery. By HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. Second edition.

[Eight small poems on Slavery, by a popular American writer ; displaying much elegance of style, and much amiable feeling, without any morbid exaggeration; but exhibiting the usual American want of distinctive character and style. These little lyrics are not the effusions of a rough but vigorous mind, indig- nantly branding the injustice of the " instit ution ' from having felt its wrongs— such a feeling as drew from BURNS "A Man's a Man for a' that "; or of a highly _poetical genius denouncing it in the comprehensive spirit of that large humanity which dictated "Take physic pomp," and the kindred passages of Lear. They are such kind of verses as a lady or gentleman might write for an annual, or a young gentleman for a prize poem; though Mr. LONGFELLOW greatly excels the tribe of poetasters in the degree of merit. The most power- ful if not the prettiest poem, is that called "The Warning," in which Slavery is typified under the figure of Sampson, blind but pulling down the temple, and crushing his masters in the ruins. The closing stanza will show the spirit of the writer, and may be taken as a fair example of his poetry.

• ' There is a poor, blind Sampson in this laud,

Shorn of his strength, and bound in bonds of steel,

Who may, iu some grim revel, raise his band,

And shake the pillars of this commouweal, Till the vast temple of our liberties A shapeless mass of wreck and rubbish lies."] Pleasant Memories of Pleasant Lands ; beim! Poetical Baeeeaa of a visit to the classic spots and most Lune... p..isons in England, beolland, and France. By Mrs. L. H. SIGOURNEf. [ So far as we have examined, a verbatim reprint, by another English publisher, of Mrs. SIGOURNEY'S prose and poetical memorials of her European travels, which we noticed at length a month ago. The present volume is neatly printed and got up, in a pocket size, and at slow price.]

The Emigrant's Handbook of Facts.

[This little volume contains a statistical and general account of our North American, Australian, and South African Colonies, with some advice to emi- grants, principally addressed to settlers in New Brunswick and the Canada. The book is of course a compilation, both in the general descriptions and the more practical advice ; but it is well enough done, and will be found useful for those who have time and intelligence to sit down and study where they shall go to. The truly useful book for the poorer kind of emigrant, however, must be shorter and less statistical-looking than this. What such people want is, a brief and plain account of the principal points which concern them in the different Co- lonies, advice as to the best mode of getting there, and what they shall do on their arrival. This sort of information may be gained from the volume by those who can extract it ; but to do this is almost a business. As in all com- pilations, some of the facts, though absolutely true require explanation to pre- vent misconception; and in one case this might be Of consequence. At page 43, the compiler States, that "next spring the passage [to Quebec from Liverpool Of Glasgow] will probably be 2/.10s. without provisions, and 201. including pro- visiuus." This is literally true, but the 21. 10s. refers to a steerage, the 201. to a cabin passage, and this difference might lead an artisan into a great mistake. No one who can possibly avoid it should attempt to find his own provisions : under any circumstances it is questionable whether any thing is gained, cer- tainly nothing if the passage be a long one ; nor is a respectable vessel fond of taking such passengers, who seldom lay in provisions enough, and are then thrown upon the captain.]

A Dream of a Queen's Reign. [A. sort of skit at certain topics in the reign of Queen VICTORIA: what

peculiar object the writer has in view we do not very clearly perceive, beyond that of complimenting her Majesty. The framework of the Dream consists in the hackneyed fiction of a discovered manuscript, which is supposed to have been written by somebody about two hundred years mince. The narrative of

this dream with its attendant circumstances, and the quaintness of the old- fashioned pedantic style, (not badly imitated,) combine to render this allegory insufferably tedious, and to overlay the few points of satire which it possesses.] The Penny Cyclopedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Know-

ledge. 'Volume XXV.—. Titles of Honour "—" Ungula."

[The principal article in this volume is "Transportation"; under which head is included not only " Punishment" but " Prisons" and "Rouses of Reformation."]

Knight's Cabinet Edition of the Works of William Shakspere. Vol. II.

SERIALS.

Coombe Abbey, No. XL

Our Mess, No XV.

Doyle's Cyclopedia of Practical Husbandry, Part XI.

PERIODICALS.

Quarterly Review, No. CXL11. Dublin Review, No. XXVII.

Magazines for March—Artizan, Bradshaw's Journal.

ILLUSTRATED WORKS AND PRINTS.

The Saints' Day. Painted by J. P. Kisicaz, A.R.A.; engraved by W. CHEVALIER. (The Art-Union of London to its subscribers of 1841.)

[Two years is a long while to have waited for such a print as this ; which has given general dissatisfaction, and cannot but disappoint the most moderate ex- pectations. Not that there has been any lack of pains bestowed on the en- graving : on the contrary, it is over-elaborated ; better effect might have been produced by less work if directed with greater skill.

The subject is ill chosen and infelicitously treated by the painter ; and the picture was not calculated to make an effective print, especially for extensive circulation. It illustrates the almost obsolete custom of the inmates of alms- houses sitting at their gate to leceive the dole of the passers by : the recipients here represented are a group of old women ; and a poor young widow is per- suading her barefootedboy to put his penny into the poor-box, instead of imi- tating a greedy urchin who is buying fruit at a tempting barrow hard by. There is nothing in the character or expression of the heads to redeem this commonplace incident from mawkish insipidity : the old women are caricatures of ugliness, and the other figures are coarse and lumpish, their great eyes fixed with a vacant stare. The drawing is glaringly defective; the feet are shapeless lumps of flesh, and the hands not much better ; and the effect of the print is heavy, monotonous, and gloomy : at a little distance, it looks like a great blot ; and on a closer inspection it is cold and metallic without force or clearness.] .Roberts's Sketches of the Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia, Part VIII.

Abbotsford Edition of the Waverley Novels, Part XXIII. Pictorial Museum of Animated Nature, Part IL

PAMPHLETS.

Tracts for the Last Days. Nos. I. to La Bienfaisance ; Poeme, par le Chevalier CirAzztaix, Ante'''. des " Lettres it Ma Sear," &c. Hommage it la &sidle Francaise de Bien- faisance, etablie it Londres en Mars 1842.

Homacpathy the True Healing Art, or a Refutation of Dr. James John. son. Containing Letters to and from that gentleman ; translations from his Majesty the King of Prussia, &c.; a few cases pronounced in- curable by eminent medical men and cured by homeopathy; an Answer to Satis Superque ; Malibran. By Dr. LUDWIG CALMANN, Physician to the German and British Homeopathic Institution. The Occasional Articles, No. L—The Fall of the Kirk. By JOHN no- BERTSON.

Machinery; its Tendency; viewed particularly in reference to the work- ing classes. By an Artisan. Juggernaut; its present state, under British patronage and support, as settled by Lord Auckland. With an Introductory Letter to Lord Fitzgerald and Vesci. By J. M. STRACHAN, Esq.

Music.

Louis Spohr's Celebrated Violin School, translated from the Original by JOHN Bisaor.