PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. BOOKS.
Monopoly the Cause of all Evil. By Arthur Condorcet O'Connor, General of Division. In three volumes.
Holland and the Dutch Colonies. By John Macgregor, M.P.
[For upwards of a century the character and condition of the Dutch attracted the attention of thoughtful minds as the most remarkable social and political problem in modern Europe. The natural difficulties the people had to contend with—the unfavourable state and site of their land, even when they had won it from the .
sea, and the great expenses they were at preserving the country from inunda- tions—were in themselves remarkable. When to this was added the long and ex- pensive wars they had sustained, and yet men saw the wealth, the commerce, and the power of the Dutch, in despite of an enormous weight of taxation, it is not wonderful that the searching politicians of countries naturally richer but practi- cally much poorer, should -have keenly scanned the people and their institutions, in order to discover the sources of their prosperity and their freedom. Although some of the greateit minds in both a speculative and practical point of view applied themselves to the solution the history of Holland has not been philosophically written, at least in a popular form., even if the entire philosophy of the subject has been reached in the various original memoirs or publications to which Holland has given rise. Raleigh and Temple (the last a rather overrated man) did not rise above the monopolizing and other commercial prejudices of their age; economical philosophy had not been reduced to a system, if philosophy of; any kind was applied to modern history before the age of Hume and Voltaire. Hence, a well-digested disquisition on the rise, progress, and decline of Holland, is yet a desideratum in literature; embracing national character and institutions, with the pith of their economical and commercial story, but only dealing with heroic or warlike events when they illustrate the more really instructive parts of the Dutch history.
This desideratum Mr. Macgregor does not attempt to supply in the volume be- fore us; nor is he altogether equal to the task. But he gives his reader in a small compass the pith of a practical knowledge of Holland, and of an ex- tensive acquaintance with original works relating to its history. He also presents a sort of annals of Dutch commerce and economical progress, mingled with brief comments of his own, and occasional quotations from other writers. These are the most useful parts of the volume, as furnishing a coup-d'reil of the progress of the Dutch, and indicating the leading authorities to those who wish to pursue the subject. The greater part of Holland and the Dutch Colonies is of a leas attractive if not a less valuable character; consisting of raw materials for occa- sional reference. It is, in fact, to a great extent a reprint from the author's Com- mercial Statistics; and contains a vast but rather unsystematic heap of tables, not digested upon any uniform principle, but printed as they came to hand, and pro- bably because they did come to hand. They present, however, in a small com- pass, an immense number of facts on the commerce, navigation, customs, and finance of Holland and its colonies, with information on the Dutch monies, weights, measures, and commercial regulations.] Forms for Public Worship in the Church of Scotland. By the Reverend Alexander Brunton, DD., one of the Ministers of the Tron Church, Edinburgh.
[After a pastoral connexion with his congregation of above forty years, the Reve- rend Dr. Brunton "feels constrained to remit his public ministrations," and pub- ]ishes the Forms of Public Worship he himself pursued during his teaching as a minister of the Church of Scotland. The volume is designed as a memorial to hisflock, and as an assistance to his pupils or others- it will also have an interest for Episcopalians who may wish to learn something Of Presbyterian forms. Even if they have been present at that service Dr. Brunton's book will, from its fulness, give a much better idea than any casuafattendance. The division of the Forms for Worship is into ordinary and special. The first contains a service for New-Year's Day, and for the four Sabbaths of a month; the Siecial refers to parochial visits, the communion and its preparation, fast-days, the OMR of baptism and marriage, thanksgivings, and some Presbyterian ceremo- nies. There is a slight occasional difference, but the full service consists of hymns, prayers, and a sermon. The hymns do not give one a high idea of the devotional poetry of the Church of Scotland': the sermons are able discourses—clear, close, and strong, with a greater leaning to exposition or explanation than to unctuous appeal: the prayers rather confirm the Duke of Argyll's view, that Presbyterianism would improved mproved by a liturgy. They are not bad as compositions, but there is too much of composition—of oration—for the Great Presence to which they are ad dressed.] Talmo* and Hadassah; a Tale of the First Captivity and Destruction of
Jerbsalem, illustrative of God's Judgments on National Sin. Also, a Metrical Version of the Lamentations of Jeremiah. By the Reverend
Henry Spencer Slight, B.D.„Fellow of-Corpus Christi College, Oxford, &c. [An attempt to bring before the mind of the reader some of the incidents, charac- ters and feelings attendant upon the first siege and destruction of Jerusalem, and to exhibit an idea of the sufferings undergone by the captive Jews upon its fall. The main interest is sought to be centred upon a single family, of which Tahnon is the father; but the king, the prophets, the princes, and the people, are conti- nually introduced into the story.] The Pocket and the Stud; or Practical Hints on the Management of the Stable. By Harry Hieover. [A variety of practical directions to persons who keep horses without being well skilled in horse-flesh, on the purchase, keep, and management, with some hints as to servants. The sum of the whole seems to be, that the generality of people had better job a carriage, keep a horse or two at livery, and when they wish to buy, repair to a respectable horse-dealer, and, telling him the kind of animal they want and the price they wish to go to, trust themselves to his recommendation.] The Counting-house Guide to the Higher Branches of Calculations. Part the First, forming an Appendix to the Elements of Commercial Arithmetic. Part the Second, forming a Supplement and Key to the new and enlarged edition of the Appendix to the Elements of Commercial Arithmetic. By William Tate, Author of "The Modern Cambist," &c. [Besides a general revision and correction, the parts relating to marine insurances, and the comparison of arbitrated rates of exchange, have bftn rewritten for the present edition. Some practical formulse have also been changed for documents of a more recent character.] Ciphering-Book. Nos. I. and IL
[In these ciphering-books the sums are ready set; the pupils have only to write clown the answers. The examples extend as far as Practice. The books will be found a saving both of time and trouble.]
Waverley Novels. VoL XIX. "The Monastery "—IL Vol. XX. The Abbot "—I.
MAYS.
Ass Emigrant's Atlas; containing Maps of the United States, Canadas, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia Cape of Good Hope, New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia, Port Phillip, Van Diemen's Land, and New Zealand; with Geographical, Topographical, and Statistical Descriptions. By James Wyld, Geographer to the Queen and Prince Albert.
[A large fasciculus at a wonderfully low price; placing the whole really within
the reach of any, except the destitute, who contemplate so important a step as emigration. The maps are on a scale of considerable size, with fall details; and they contain the newest topography of our ever-growing settlements. A glance at the letterpress shows it to be simple, concise, distinct, and we believe truthful. So large an amount of information, by text and diagram, has seldom been crammed into so little room.]
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