PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

London Labour and the London Poor. By Henry Mayhew. Three volumes. London: Giiffin, Bohn, and Co.—After a lapse of we dare not venture to say how many years, Mr. Mayhew's great work on the poor and labouring classes of the metropolis has at length, made a definite stride towards completion. The volumes before us, however, contain only the first division of the entire work. The second division, which is to be devoted to the description of "those that will not work," comprising prostitutes, thieves, beggars, vagabonds, &c., is announced as preparing for publication, and is to follow as rapidly as possible. We are somewhat inclined to doubt whether this second section will, when it appears, prove to be of equal value with the first; for, in the case of some at least, of the classes that are included within the category, it may be questioned whether Mr. Mayhew's favourite systemof making each individual tell this or her own story, will suc- ceed in eliciting information the truth of which may be implicitly relied on. Of the value of the present section, however, there can be but little doubt. It claims to be a complete cyclopfedia of the condi- tions and earnings of the London street-folk; and it amply vindicates its right to the title. With the single exception of a few pages on London vagrants, which would seem to belong more properly to the forthcoming section, it is exclusively devoted to that numerous class of people who get their living by some kind or other of lawful labour, in or under the streets of London. It would be quite impossible to enumerate the different varieties of industry which Mr. Mayhew has included in his investigations : suffice it to say that he has not, as far as we know, omitted a single one which could fairly be regarded as coming within the province which he has assi: ed to himself. As its author observes, the work is, in fact, a blue- ..k published in two- penny numbers; and, while it resembles other productions of this

i class in containing an immense mass of statistical information, it Possesses the additional advantage of being far more interesting and amusing_than any blue-book which it was ever our fortune to meet with. What imparts an especially amusing character to the volumes before us is the fact that Mr. Mayhew conveys as much of his infor- mation as he possibly can in the form of personal statements taken down from the lips of one or more representatives of each class that he has undertaken to describe ; and he has shown a tact in eliciting, and a skill and fidelity in recording, these communications, which can- not be too highly 'armed. Every one of these narratives is well worth reading; but perhaps the most amusing of all is that of the sixpenny photographer, which contains a complete revelation, very humorously given, of all the secrets and dodges of the trade. Mr. Mayhew has conferred a substantial benefit upon the objects of his inquiry as well as upon the public at large: for we shall be much surprised if his volumes do not produce in many of their readers, as they certainly have done in ourselves, a much more lively sense of the deserts of erossing-sweepers and street-performers than they have hitherto been in the habit of feeling. The engravings by which the work is illus- trated are all taken from photographs, of the fidelity of many of which most residents in London will be enabled, by a personal acquaintance with the originals, to form an opinion for themselves.

la Beata. B3r T. Adolphus Trollops, Author of " A Decade of Italian Women," &c. Two volumes. London : Chapman and Hall.

In the present instance Mr. Trollope has turned his knowledge of Italy in nneral and Florence in particular, to a purpose somewhat difkrent from that to win& it has hitherto been employed. He is very well known as a lively awl spirited narrator of interesting episodes in Italian history; but this is, we believe, the first time that

he has attempted to enter upon the domain which belongs peculiarly to his younger brother. The encroachment, however, is not a serious one for La Beata is far from being either a long or an elaborate novel. It is the story of a simple and beautiful Florentine girl, who ning by sitting as a model to the artists of her native town, e by becoming the mistress of one of them, whom she loves with the most devoted attachment. Her lover becomes prosperous in his business, finds his connexion with La Beata decidedly in his way, and so proceeds to get rid of her in a manner which is at once thoroughly heartless and thoroughly respectable. The poor child pines away and dies, and by a singular and very effective accident, her death is wit- nessed by her former lover, i who is at once stricken by remorse and retires to a monastery for the rest of his life. La Beata herself is a most charming sketch ; and the respectable selfishness of the rising artist is represented in a manner which is thoroughly true to nature. Slight as the story is, it is very prettily told, and, like all Mr. Sillope's works, it is written pleasantly and evenly from the first page to the las.

Australian Sketches. By Thomas McCombie, Esq. London: Samp- son Low, Son, and Co.—A collection of detached pictures of Austra- lian life, the scene of which lies for the most part in the gold-fields of the colony. Mr. McCombie tells us, nothing that is particularly new, but he describes what he has seen in a straightforward manner, and his narrative is by no means devoid of interest.

Meteorological and Medical Observations on the Climate qf Egypt. By Donald Dalrymple, M.D. London: Churchill.—Dr. Dalrymple, having recently returned from an expedition to Egypt in search of health, wishes to impart the results of his experience to those invalids who may hereafterbe compelled to follow his example. His report on the climate of the country is, on the whole, decidedly favourable ' • and he thinks that it is likely to be of great service in the less advanced stages of pulmonary disease. Besides a series of meteorological tables, con- structed from his own observations, he gives a quantity of detailed in- structions respecting the management of a voyage up the Nile, which are likely to be of considerable practical use to any one who wishes to undertake the journey.

The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: including his Translations and Notes. London: H. G. Bohn.—This is, as far as we know the only edition which contains, in one volume, the whole of Longfellow's poetical works. It is illustrated by twenty-four en- gravings, which neither add to nor detract from the value of the book to any material degree.

Suggestions for the Exploration of Iceland : an Address delivered to the Members of the Alpine Club on April 4, 1861, by William Longman, Vice-President. London : Printed by the Alpine Club.—In this lecture Mr. Longman endeavours to impress upon the society to which he be- longs the importance of directing some part of their corporate atten- tion to the exploration of Iceland. The information which he conveys is derived almost entirely from the work of Henderson, the missionary,. who, though it is fifty years since he was there, explored the island far more completely than has been done by any subsequent traveller. Mr. Longman has taken great pains to ascertain the best manner of un- dertaking the expedition ; and we hope that he may succeed in enlisting some of his colleagues in favour of the enterprise which he has so much at heart.

The Cottage History of England. By the Author of "Mary Powell.' London : Hall, Virtue, and Co.—This little book is designed to in- troduce into kitchens and cottages a knowledge of some of the leading- events in English history. If it ever penetrates into the places which it is intended to reach, it may possibly carry out its purpose to some extent. In an apologue prefixed to the preface, the author implies that her history occupies the same place, in relation to those of Hume and Macaulay, that a penny tart does to roast mutton and baked potatoes, a comparison which certainly does at least full justice to the merit of the smaller work.

The Bishop's Walk and the Bishop's Times. By Orwell. Edinburgh : Edmonston and Douglas. Cambridge and London : Macmillan and Co. "The Bishop's Walk" is the name of a shady avenue at the west-end of Dunblane Cathedial, which is said to have been a favourite walk with Archbishop Leighton; and the poem which bears the same name is an attempt to embody the author's conception of the cha- racter of that prelate. To it are appended a small number of minor poems, illustrative of the times in which the archbishop lived. The Bishop's Walk is musical and pleasant; but the Bishop's _Times have

i decidedly the advantage both in vigour and pathos.

AHandbook to the Colony of Queensland, Australia. By the Editor- of the "Australian and New Zealand Gazette." London : F. Alger_ This pamphlet, which completes the series of handbooks to the Aus- tralian colonies, gives, within a narrow compass, full information 're- specting the climate, political institutions, &c., of Queensland, together with a statement of the advantages which are offered by that colony to intending emigrants.

New Brunswick as a Home for Emigrants. First and Second Prize Essays. By J. V. Ellis and James Edgar. St. John, N.B. : Barnes and Co. These are the two Essays which have obtained the prizes. of fifteen and ten guineas, offered for public competition in December last by the President and Directors of the St. John's Mechanics' In- stitute. Both of the successful competitors are, as might be expected, warm- panegyrists of the colony to which they belong. We see no reason to doubt the justice of the committee's decision that Mr. Ellis's production is the better of the two.

Punch; or, the London Charivari. Vols. I.—III. Re-issue.—This re-issue of the only comic journal which has succeeded in permanently i establishing itself in England, carries ns back twenty years at once; and it is very pleasant to ioe thus enabled to renew our acquaintance with the old jokes which we used to laugh at when we were so. much younger than we are now. In his infancy, Punch was far less exclu• stvely political than he has since become, his satire being directed towards social far more frequently than towards political objects_ Thegeneral impression produced by looking over these volumes is, that in those early days the letter-press was, on the whole, superior, and the illustrations decidedly inferior, to the present standard. Explorations and Adventures fa Equatorial Africa ; with Accounts of the Manners and Customs of the People, and of the Chase of the Gorilla, Crocodile, Leo- pard, Elephant, Hippopotamus, and other Animals. By Paul B. Du Chaillu. With Map and Illustrations. (John Murray.) A Treatise on the Steam-Engine in its various applications to Mines, Mills, Steam Navigation, Railways, and Agriculture, with Theoretical investigations re-. specting the Motive Power of Heat, and the Proper Proportions of Steam- Engines. By John Bourne. Being the fifth edition of "A Treatise on the Steam-Engine" by the Artisan Club. Illustrated by thirty-seven plates, and five hundred and forty-six woodcuts. (Longman and Co.)

Physico-Prophetical Essays on the Locality of the Eternal Inheritance, its Nature and Character, the Resurrection Body, the Mutual Recognition of Glorified Saints. By the Rev. W. Lister, F.G.S., &c. (Longman and Co.)

A Progressive Greek Anthology, for the Use of Schools. By the Rev. Henry Mum- grave Wilkins, M.A., 4:e. (Longman and Co.) Tendon : a Poem. By Christopher James Riethmliller. (Bell and Daldy.) The Life, 71,nes, and Correspondents of the Eight Rev. Dr. Doyle, Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin. By William John Fitz-Patrick, J.P., &e. In two vols. (Dub- lin: James Duffy.) The Science of Rappiassa developed in a Series of Essays on Self-Love. By a Friend of Humanity. (Trlibner and Co.) PhantaPhg ; or, The Science of Truth. A Treatise on First Principles, Mental, Physical, and Verbal By James Haig, M.A., &c. (Saunders, Otlay, and Co.)