PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

Prints for Cottage Walls : a Paper read by Request at the Book-Hawkers'

Union in Oxford. Oxford and London: J. H. and J. Parker.—Professor Acland has produced a useful little paper on a subject that has not received the attention it deserves. He remarks that persons of all classes decorate their walls or screens in some manner. " The poor affix passages from Punch, penny sheets of songs, and the most astonishing representations of humanity, from the attack of Elisha's bears on the children to the death of Nelson wrought on glass enamel, angels struggling with naked tars for his coffin, just as they purchase for the mantel-shelf white and tan plaster dogs without legs, or vermilion swains reposing on blue trees in glossy china. Their tastes are manifold as well as peculiar, and variety as well as a certain quaintness must be consulted in order to make the objects you offer acceptable as well as instructive." With the aid of Mr. Richmond, Dr. Acland has drawn up a list of suggestions for subjects. For sacred subjects, engravings or photographs from the early Italian school and from Francis, Raphael, and Albert Durer, are recommended in preference to the somewhat hazy lithographs which the modern German school has introduced, but which no patronage has made popular. Among secular subjects, copies from Stothard's "Robinson Crusoe," or engravings from Morland and Wilkie, are recommended. Portraits, we suspect, are pretty certain to come from the cheap serials, but a few photographs of British worthies, such as John Bunyan and Nelson, might easily be made from the National Portrait Gallery. The subject is worth a little attention. No one can doubt that there is some education in looking at a good engraving, and at a time when Russian peasants are procuring copies of Raphaers "Madonna" in place of the conventional Byzantine Virgin, some effort ought to be made to ad- vance Art-culture in England.

An Exposition of the Lord's Prayer, Devotional, Doctrinal, and Practical; with Four Preliminary Dissertations. By the Rev. W. H. Kerslake. J. H. an James Parker.—Is it not going a little too far to assert that the composition alone of the Lord's Prayer—even if it be only an arrangement of selected fragments of antecedently existing forms of prayer—argues "infinite wisdom and skill ?" Be that as it may, Mr. Kerslake did well in acceding to the request of the members of Merton College that he should publish the lectures he preached in their chapel, in the year 1860-61, on

the Sundays preceding the administration of the Holy Communion. Pre- fixed are four admirable dissertations on the parts, order, compass, and spirit of the prayer, on its use, on the mode of interpreting it, and on its origin. In the Appendix are placed copious extracts, on the same subject, from St. Cyprian, St. Chrysostom, Dr. Barrow, and other pious and learned expositors. The book is beautifully printed, so that he who runs may read.

A Hand-Book of Descriptive and Practical Astronomy. By George F.

Chambers, F.R.G.S. John Murray. —With commendable industry, Mr. Chambers has applied himself to the compilation of a manual of Astronomy which shall be at the same time "attractive to the general reader, useful to the amateur, and handy,' also, as an occasional book of reference, to the professional astronomer." Theoretical matter has for the most part been excluded, and all speculations on the creation of the universe carefully eschewed. On the other hand, an immense amount of practical informa- tion is afforded on all that pertains to the solar system of our own planet. Perhaps, for ordinary readers, the chapters on comets contain the largest amount of interesting matter, though not a few will devote themselves witn the greatest zest to those portions of this portly volume which treat of tides, chronological astronomy, and the starry heavens. The only fault that the most fastidious can find is with the form of the book itself, which is certainly ill chosen. A good-sized octavo would have been not only more pleasing to the eye, but infinitely more convenient.

A Popular Account of Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa.

By David Livingstone, M.D. John Murray.—An edition of Dr. Living- stone's travels in the form of a moderate-sized octavo volume shows a kindly consideration for the ways and means of the general public. No other narrative of distant wanderings has for many a year enjoyed such a stable and wholesome popularity. The ephemeral interest excited by M. Du Chaillu's "traveller's tales" was partly caused by the incredulity of• his critics, and is already fading away. But the truthfulness of Dr. Livingstones statements has never been called in question, although he seemed to be opening up a new world for the cultivation of cotton and the introduction of Christianity. The numerous engravings which illusteate his descriptions add not a little to their fascination, and almost fill one with envy at his good fortune in having beheld so much that was new and wonderful, and having lived to chronicle the story of his adventurous ex- plorations. It needs no prophetic lore to predict a large and ever-increas- ing circulation for this popular account of missionary labours and researches in Southern Africa.

Lessons of Life and Godliness a Selection of Sermons preached in the

Parish Church of Doncaster. By Charles John Vaughan, D.D. Macmillan and Co.—Of late years a decided improvement has taken place in the tone and composition of sermons. They are no longer mere strings of Scriptural texts intertwined without harmony, or meaning, or applicability to the or- dinary affairs of human life. There is now an abundant choke of lectures, sermons, and discourses, suited to every phase of society, and ad- dressed to living beings, and not to a mere abstract congregation, with whom the preacher had no individual and heartfelt sympathy. The scanty attendance of young men in most churches is very frequently due to the monotonous and common-place essays that occupy three- quarters of an hour in their delivery, and leave only a dull, morbid sensation of intense weariness. But a good preacher can still fill his church with an attentive audience, and, as of old, men who go to scoff will remain to pray. Dr. Vaughan's sermons, if not particularly bril- liant or striking, are earnest and human. They are adapted to every class and order in the social system, and will be read with wakeful interest by all who seek to amend whatever may be amiss in their natural disposition or in their acquired habits.

Schoolboy Honour : a Tale of Bedminster College. By the Rev. H. C. Adams, M.A. Routledge and Co.—The difference between true and false honour could not possibly be better illustrated than it has been in Mr. Adams's clever and natural description of schoolboy life at Eton. He has taken no pains to make black so very black, or white so very white, but has contented himself with describing events as they really occur, and with delineating such characters as are commonly met with. Not only will Etonians turn with pleasure to his healthy record of their sayings and doings, their manners and customs, but boys of all ages will recognize the truthfulness of his portraits. It is a capital story, told with ease and spirit, and throughout teaching a lesson of the highest moment, but without pro- lixity or Puritanism.

The Children's Picture-Book of Useful Knowledge. By the Author of "The Children's Bible Picture-Book.' Bell and Daldy.—We demur to the title. A fair sprinkling of small woodcuts hardly merits the title of a picture-book, and we appeal to our small friends as the highest tribunal in such a case. The knowledge sought to be imparted may be useful enough, but it appears to us to be of a very dry nature, and it is certainly very miscellaneous. As a school-book, however, this carefully-written compila- tion is worthy of considerable praise, and ;rill doubtless facilitate the irk- some and thankless offices of the teacher.

Horace at the University of Athens. Jonathan Palmer.—In process of time the writer of this silly trifle may hope to write an extravaganza for the Victoria or the Standard. He is already capable of contributing to Fun.

The National Magazine. Part LXIII. W. Tweedie.—The January number of this well-conducted periodical contains a somewhat indifferent portrait of the late Prince Albert, and also a really beautiful photograph of the "Yellow Tower of Gwent," the oldest portion of the ruins of Raglan Castle, dating from the time of the first Henry. There is, besides, the usual variety of tales in prose and verse, not particularly remarkable for power or beauty, but of fair average excellence, and thoroughly re- spectable.

History of Rome: from the Building of the City to the Ruin of the Republic. By Edward Baldwin. Revised by W. S. Kenny. W. Tegg.—It would be more correct to designate this tiny volume as a series of sketches from the romance of Roman History. The author himself laughs to scorn the "sophistical reasonings and subtle distinctions" by which some writers have been led to reject almost every example of Roman virtue on record." He prefers to accept the ancient legends in a literal sense, as they "were understood by the Romans themselves, who had the best means of informa- tion, and who felt in their own bosoms what a Roman was." Serious criticism would manifestly be thrown away upon an opuscule written in such a spirit. Whatever else it may be, it is not history, nor is there a single story told in a manner to command the attention of the young.

Case of the Seizure of the Southern Envoys. James Ridgway.—The Case of the Trent examined James Ridgway.—The Seizure of the Southern Commissioners, considered with Reference to International Law. By P. A. Smith, M.A., L.L.B. James Ridgway.—The first of these three pamphlets, on a question happily settled for the present, is little more than a reprint from the Saturday Review, and is, of course con- demnatory of the outrage committed by Captain Wilkes. The second, how- ever, while affecting judicial impartiality, advocates an appeal to arbitra- tion, but virtually approves of the conduct of the American captain. The third also pleads for forbearance on the part of the British Government, but solely on the grounds of war being a hateful calamity, of the meanness of attacking the Federal States at a disadvantage, and of an " unblest partisanship" with a slaveholdiag population. Fortunately both Govern- ments are agreed as to the unjustifiableness of seizing the envoys on board a neutral vessel plying between neutral ports, and consequently any further notice of these ably written pamphlets is quite uncalled for.

The Revised Statute-Book/or Session 1861. Edited by James Bigg, Esq. Waterlow and Sons.—This is a cheap pocket edition of the statutes relating to the United Kingdom, passed in the course of the last Session, with im- proved indexes, side-notes, and tables. Though fully one-third less in bulk and weight than the Queen's Printers' edition, it contains quite as much information, with the additional advantage of being very much less expensive. If suitably encouraged, Mr. Bigg proposes to compile on the same plan a complete edition of existing statutes, a work likely to be of great assistance to the legal profession.

Individual Exertion : a Christmas Call to Action. By Ellen Barlee. Emily Faithfull and Co.—An amiable and well-intentioned appeal, but scarcely calculated to produce any practical results. There can be no question, of course, as to the value of individual exertion or as to the duty of all to help each other, but there is much danger in ill-regulated zeal, and nothing requires more careful guidance than the devious channels of private

charity. •

The Illustrated Dublin Journal. Part IV. James Duffy.—Aa there are readers of all sorts, it is plain that there must be literature of all sorts. The Illustrated Dublin Journal belongs to that class, the value of which is fairly estimated at sixpence a month. There is no great objection, perhaps, to be made to the useful information department, but the stories are dread- fully melodramatic ; Mr. Blanchard Jerrold, however, contributing a tale of Bohemian life. The wood engravings fitly illustrate the text. Glimpses 0/the Life of a Sailor. By Franklin Fox. Charles Fox.— The chief merit of these dottings of a sailor's life is the alleged fact of their truthfulness. Of their probability there can be no question allow- ing for the usual amount of high colouring incidental to nautical nar- ratives. The author's experiences were chiefly derived from serving on board American ships, and for that reason they possess a more than com- mon interest at the present moment. The different papers now bound together in the form of a tolerably consecutive narrative have already ap- Peared in various periodicals, and, among others, in the Household Words. The absence of any particular plot or delineation of character, of course, deprives this little volume of any interest of an exciting order, but it is qwts readable, and will cause a leisure hour to pass right pleasantly. A 1Letter to the Lord Chancellor on Law Consolidation. By Sir JohnNodes

Di On, R.A. James Ridgway.—In somewhat highflown language the late acting Chief Justice of New South Wales calls upon Lord Westbury to follow up his Bankruptcy Act by framing a Code, a Digest, and an Insti-

tute of the Laws of England. Various suggestions are at the same time sub- mitted for his Lordship's guidance and approval, which appear to be al

least sensible and practical. A code, or a consolidated arrangement of the statutes, is a work which the present generation may hope to see accom- plished, but he must, indeed, be a sanguine man who expects to witness the day when the present 1200 volumes of Case Law are reduced to 100. However, the sooner a commencement is made the sooner will the desired end be attained, and if Sir J. N. Dickinson has contributed anything towards a consummation so devoutly to be wished for, he is entitled to the gratitude of all future litigants.

A Charge to the Grand Jury of Winchester, at the Michaelmas Quarter Sessions, 1861. By A. J. Stephens, LL.D. V. and R. Stevens and Son.— Dr. Stephens has brought together within a narrow compass a vast quantity of statistical information relating to the extent of crime during the past year. He has also much to say on the subject of punishment, and on the general management of prisons. It is gratifying to learn that there was a marked diminution of crime during the twelve months to which be refers, though a considerable increase is observable in the number of criminal lunatics ; but this is partly ascribed to "the great vigilance of the police and to the unlimited detention of those who continued insane." For the purposes of reference and comparison Dr. Stephens's Charge will be found extremely useful and convenient.

Selection from the Norse Tales, for the Use of Children. By G. W. Dasent, D.C.L. Edmonston and Douglas.—Thrice happy the small folk into whose hands shall fall this charming story-book I Beautifully printed on tinted paper, enriched with the most spirited engravings, and elegantly bound, a prettier volume will scarce be found in a collection of iditions de hoe. Complying with the prudish scruples of certain strait-laced 'indi- viduals, the learned translator has eliminated a few stories that gave offence on the first appearance of these curious specimens of Norwegian fancy. Enough, however, remains to satisfy the most craving appetite for marvels, and to fill the juvenile mind with endless speculation and wonder.

The Rural Almanac and Sportsman's Illustrated Calendar /or 1862. "The Field" Office.—We cannot say much in favour of the illustrations, except it be those which enliven the advertisement sheets, some of which are highly artistic. En revanche there is a vast variety of matter interesting to the country gentleman, whether gardener, farmer, or sportsman, or all three in one. There are also some wonderful recipes for all sorts of things—for making ginger-beer, removing warts, recovering the apparently drowned, and getting rid of corns. Still, upon the whole, we give the preference to the advertisements.

John Rogers : the Compiler of the First Authorized English Bible, the Pioneer of the English Reformation, and its First Martyr. By Joseph Lemuel Chester. Longman and Co.—The natural zeal of a biographer has led Mr. Chester to attach a somewhat excessive importance to his subject, which again has led him into quite unnecessary amplifications of the scanty materials at his disposal. He himself tells us that his original object was simply to trace his own descent from the Marian protomartyr, but in the course of his researches he became convinced that sufficient justice had not been rendered to the memory of that courageous and pious man. Hence, these 450 octavo pages, not one-third of which will ever be read by the general public. He certainly adduces satisfactory evidence to show that Fox was at least careless as to numerous particulars in the life of the martyr, and that he took unpardonable liberties with Rogers's own account of his examinations, the manuscript of which was actually in his possession. This curious document has been exhumed by Mr. Chester from among the Lansdowne manuscripts, and is now published for the first time. Had this gentleman been content with placing the true incidents of Rogers's life in their proper light, and had he done so briefly and dispassionately, his book would have been far more valuable than it now is, while en- cumbered with genealogical papers and biographical sketches of some of his supposed descendants—worthy men, no doubt, but wholly uninteresting to the world at large. The martyr himself appears to have been a fearless and earnest man, thoroughly convinced of the errors of Popery, and de- termined at all hazards to stand by his opinions. There was nothing fanatical about him. He had acknowledged Queen Mary as the rightful occupier of the throne, was happy in his domestic life, loving his foreign wife and numerous family with tenderness and loyalty, and held a good living in the Established Church. But he never for a moment seems to have entertained the slightest doubt as to what it was his duty to do and suffer. He never faltered or sought to trim between the two conflicting creeds, neither did he exhibit any traces of bigotry and intolerance. Within his heart rose "the star of the unconquered will," " Serene, and resolute, and still,

And calm, and self-possessed," and this serenity he preserved even throughout his agony at the stake. The plain unvarnished tale of the life of such a truly great and good man could not fail to excite a sublime and holy sympathy, but in Mr. Chester's narrative all such emotions are choked beneath an amplitude of words and wearisome ejaculations. If he would take the trouble to rewrite his story, omitting all genealogical disquisitions, he might yet be able to produce a book that every English household would be eager to possess.

Chambers's Encyclopedia: a Dictionary of Universal Knowledge /or the People, Illustrated with Maps and numerous Engravings. Vole I., II., and IIL W. and R. Chambers.—Taking as their model the well-known German Encyclopedia quaintly designated the "Conversations-Lexicon," Messrs. Chambers have produced a Dictionary of Universal Knowledge, which in many respects, a decided improvement upon the much praised-original. The addition of maps and numerous wood-engravings cleverly executed is in itself a marked advance upon the excellent German work, while every advantage has been taken of the immense progress made during the last

decade in every branch of human science to give the most exact and fullest information on each separate subject. The publishers have also judged wisely in adhering to the simple alphabetical arrangement instead of break- ingup their Encyclopedia into segments devoted tothe various departments of knowledge. For purposes of reference, this is far more convenient than having to search under the different heads of Philosophy, Science, History, and Biography. Neither is the ordinary inquirer perplexed by long treatises which by their very learning defeat the object for which they were designed. At the same time, it must not be supposed that there is anything trivial or ',superficial in the definitions and descriptions given in C'hambers': Encyclopedia. Neither pedantic nor what is called popular, they meet all the requirements of every-day life. Birds drawn from Nature. By Mrs. Hugh Blackburn. Edmonston and ilonglas.—We have here twenty-three drawings of Scottish Birds beauti- fully executed and perfectly true to nature. They are in fact, portraits, and the accessories are equally truthful and appropriate. For the most part, Mrs. Blackburn has carefully avoided stuffed specimens, justly pre- ferring to study the living subject as the only means of arriving at a really natural likeness. This portfolio of engravings will be acceptable, not only to naturalists, but to all lovers of art. Elementary Treatise on Physics, Experimental and Applied By Professor A. Ganot. Translated by E. Atkinson, Ph.D., F.C.L. H. Bailliere.—The third part of Dr. Atkinson's admirable edition of Professor Ganot's Treatise on Physics, treats of Acoustics and Heat The production, propagation, and reflexion of sound, the vibration of strings, and the physical theory of music, come under the former head ; while under the latter much interest- ing information is imparted on the construction of thermometers and the expansion of solids and liquids. The letter-press is profusely illustrated.

St. Mark's School by the Seaside, in the Summer of 1861: to which is prefixed a Suggestion. By the Rev. S. Hawtrey, M.A. Hamilton, Adams, and Co,—The "prefixed suggestion" is to the effect that the managers of parochial schools should occasionally exchange their respective localities for ten days or a fortnight every summer. Portsmouth, for instance, should visit Windsor, and vice rend—the Windsor mothers taking charge of the Portsmouth boys, and the Portsmouth mothers doing the like good tarn to the Windsor boys. For several years past it appears to have been the practice of the St. Mark's seholars to repair for a brief holiday to Peke- field, a small fishing village on the Suffolk coast, a few miles distant (ruin Lowestoft, and the description of their last "outing" has the freshness and purity of a pastoral. The cordial relations established between these well- conducted schoolboys and the simple villagers cause both parties to look forward to their annual meeting with anticipations of delight, which were certainly not disappointed in the year 1861. The sympathy, too, that evidently exists between the scholars and their teachers is most creditable to both, and is the best illustration of Mr. Havrtrey's theorem, that" trust- fulness in dealing with boys is the way to make them honestly good, and a security against their having two sets of manners and habits, one when seen, and the other when not seen." This little volume should be read by all who take an intelligent interest in the education of the lower middle classes.

Dittatton Exercises. By Elizabeth M. Sewell. (Longman and Co.)

Scattered Leaves. By Henry Sewell Stokes. (Longman and Co.) A Key to Arithmetical Examples for Home and School Use. Part I. Containing Answers to upwards of Five Thousand of the Leading Questions. By William Davls, B.A., dsc. (Longman and Co.)

Hymn ler the Church of England. (Longman and Co.)

Thoughts on Personal Religion. Being a Treatise on the Christian Life in Its two chief Elements, Devotion and Practice. By Edward Meyrick Goulbourn, D.D., (to. In two volumes. (Rivingtons.)

The Man Christ Jest se: or, the Daily Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ on Earth, as dis- played by His Evangelists for our Example. By Thomas Markby, 11.A-, ho. (Rivingtons.) Contributions to an Amateur Magazine, in Prose and Verse. By Richard Perry, M.A., he. Second Edition. (Rivingtons.) An Index to "In Memoriam" (Edward Moxon and Co.)

Inaugural Addresses in the University of Edinburgh. By the late John Lee, D.D., h.c. To which is prefixed a Memoir of the Author. By Lord Neaves. (Wi)- liam Blackwood and Sons.)

The Romance of Natural History. By Philip Henry Goss°, F.R.S. Second series. (James Nisbet and Co.) The Basidos ; or, Twenty-three Years in South Africa. By the Rev. E. Dawdle. (James Nisbet and Co.) Louise Juliane, Electron Palatine, and Her Timer. By Fanny Elizabeth Bunnett. (James Nisbet and Co.)

The Martyrs of Spain and the Liberators of Holland. Memoirs of the Sisters Dolores and Costanza Cazalla. By the Author of "Tales and Sketches of Christian Life," he. (James Nisbet and Co.)

The Heavenward Path; or, Progress and Perfection in the Life of Faith. By the Rev. William Wilson, MA., he. (James Nisbet and Co.) Spinning-tackle: what it is and what it ought to be. With a few Words on Fine Fishing. By H. Cholmondely Pennell. (Harrison.)

An Historical Surrey of the Astronomy of the Ancients. By the Right Hon. Sir George Cornewall Lewis. (Parker, Son, and Bourn.) The Child's Picture Primer. By Mark Wilson. With one hundred Dlustrations. (Sampson Low, Son, and Co.) The Child's Picture Alphabet. By Mark Wilson_ With two hundred illustrations. (Sampson, Low, Son, and Co.)

History of Row: from the Bedding of the City to the Ruin of the Republic. By Edward Baldwin. New Edition. Illustrated with Medallion Portraits and Maps. (William Tegg.)

Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury. By Walter Farquhar Hook, D.D., he. Vol. II. Anglo-Norman Period. (Richard Bentley.)

Replies to "Essays and Reviews." With a Preface by the Lord Bishop of Oared. (John Henry and James Parker.) The West Indies : their Social and Religious Condition. By Edward Bean Under- hill. (Jackson, Welford, and Hodder.)

SERIALS.

The Edinburgh Review. No. CCXXXIIL (Longman and Co.) The London Review. (Hamilton, Adams, and Co.

PAMPHLETS.

ASermon On the Death of His Royal Highness the Prince Consort. By the nay. C. Kingsley. (Parker, Son, and Bourn.) Public Edscation. Why is a new Code wanted? By J. G. Peitch, ILA, Second Edition. (Bell and Deldy.) The Seizure of the Southern Commissioners Considered with Reference to Interna- tional Law, amigo the question of War or Peace. By Philip A_nstie Smith, MA. IC. (James Ridgway.) 271e Goverratnent Guarantee on Indian Railways, as Officially Explained and Recog- nized by the Railway Boards, the Government, and the Stock Exchange. (William H. Allen and Co.) Colonization in India and Australia Compared. Reprinted, with Additions, from "The Indus and its Provinces." By W. P. Andrew. (William H. Allen and Co.) The Punjab Railway. Extracted from Report on Administration of the Punjab Territories, for the °Menai year ending 80th April, 1861. (Waterlow and Sons.)