PROGRESS OF PUBLICATION.

MR. STIRLING is rather late in the day with his Considerations on the Political State of the Countries between Persia and India ; for a variety of travellers have traversed the regions he attempts to describe, possessing equal powers of observation, and greater skill in conveying to others the results of what they remarked. The object of the pamphlet is to estimate the feasibility of Russia's marching an army to India, and by which of the three routes it could best be done; and it originated in an official suggestion of the late Sir J. M'DONALD, when Envoy at the Persian Court, in 1828. Our author, then about returning to India, acted upon the hint, and on his arrival, proffered his report : but the authorities at Bombay displayed " the greatest apathy, and could not be roused to take an interest in the subject," or in Mr. STIRLING'S writing,—which, to say the truth, has much of the dryness of an itinerary, without the distinctness of its diurnal arrangement. The conclusion of his Considerations seems to be, that though the march is certainly practicable for an army which had conquered or was in alliance with the different people through whom it would have to pass, yet it would be very difficult ; and in addition to the length and natural obstacles of the routes, there would be the scarcity of provisions and the changes of climates to contend with. But, as he intimates, what would England be about whilst all this was going on? He therefore thinks that moral and political ob- stacles will prevent the invasion. In order, however, to prevent the possibility of disputes between friends, he hints at the pro- priety of England and Russia dividing Asia between them ; and then, if Russia crossed the boundary, it would be a fair reason for demanding explanations.

It is no slight praise to say of Dr. BOWRING'S Second Series of Minor Morals, that it excels the first in the interest of the tales, and the general elevation of tone ; whilst it possesses most of the excellent qualities which distinguished that unique little work. There is the same elegance of style, the same aptness of illustration; and if not a similar strictness of Utilitarian applica- tion, the presence of a moral aim and of moral lessons is visible throughout. The stories are drawn from perhaps a greater variety of sources than in the preceding volume ; and exhibit a cor- rectness of scenery, costume, and manners, rarely found either in children's books or in works of higher pretensions. Take this sample from a tale of the Slave-trade. e. I was coasting near Cape Palma, when I observed on the shore some of those wooden huts which Europeans arc wont hastily to construct upon the burning sand. These cabins are fragile, and of short duration, but serve as market-places for those bargains in human beings which form the most lucrative commerce carried on in the African tropics. A large brig, painted black, was anchored close to the shore. She hoisted no flag, she did not own herself to belong to any civilized nation ; her whole appearance bespoke the purposes of robbery, which brought her there. In a word, she was a slave.vessel, endea - Touring by stealth to till up her cargo of misery with which to depart to other markets, where White men would be found to buy those unfortunate beings whom in Africa Black men kidnapped, and White men encouraged them to do so.

" A young man met me when I landed. He came out from one of the buts, clothed, or rather half-clothed, in that careless and slovenly manner which is very common in hot climates, where no eye of fashionable observation watches the proprieties of dress. He approached me with a careless air, and in a loung- ing and somewhat scornful gait. He had much of that cunning, distrustful look which distinguishes those who are engaged in illicit transactions, and which is, as it were, the last expression of the sense of shame ; ' for the cases are few,' observed the Governor, in which men occupied in misdeeds fail to betray a sense of their disgraceful employment ; and I have often seen,' added he, the expression of self-condemnation even where success and splendid fortunes had appeared to recompense nefarious transactions.' " Mr. THOMPSON'S Considerations respecting the Trade with Chtna are resolvable into four points,—(l) An elaborate disquisi- tion upon the value of silver, and the state and mode of the ex- changes with China ; (2) Some hints for the practical conduct of the trade; (3) A view of the general behaviour which the Chinese authorities have hitherto adopted in their intercourse with European traders; (9) Suggestions for getting possession of Macao, and making it our chief emporium for the China commerce. To the discussion of the first point the author brings some learning and much official experience, having been employed by the East India Company at the beginning of the present cen- tury in the examination into the currency of Hindostan, which ended in their effecting a new coinage; and he has besides the practical knowledge which a long service in Leadenhull Street must give. We suspect, however, that he is applying the expe- rience gained under an old system to a new course of business, where ei erg thing will have altered. "Exchange " resolves itself into money or money's worth. The free traders who carry their cargoes to China, will not part with them without one or the other; and if the trade be worth following, the Chinese will soon hit upon a plan of' giving them cash, bills, or goods, whatever difficulties might attend the arrangement of the quid pro quo under the old monopoly. The hints for the conduct of the trade are judicious, but chiefly relate to the best kind of vessels to employ. The in- formation under the third head has little novelty either in its facts or the inference to be drawn from them : it is pretty generally known, that when a Chinese official meets a greater bully than himself, he knocks under. The suggestion to make an English settlement of Macao, is in its nature the same kind of plan as the one frequently alluded to in the Spectator. The difficulty would lie in obtaining the surrender from the Portuguese Government; which might not be so easily accomplished as Mr. THOMPSON imagines.

The Life of William Cobbett, "dedicated to his Sons," is a catchpenny affitir, telling nothing but what is well-known, and leaving much untold. From the autobiography of COBBETT, and from the personal notices lavishly scattered throughout his works, a very favourable notion of the life and character of the man might be gleaned, and certainly a very amusing volume formed. The plan of the book before us seems to have aimed at this; but the compiler could not execute his own intentions, or his vanity overcame his will. The passages of any value are all foreign; but the selection has either not been made with care or without judgment ; and the power and interest of ConuEris writings are destroyed or suspended, by the interpolating reflections and spe- culations of the compiler, expressed in a style of inflated gran- deur, often int'rlarded with Latin quotations, of no other use than to show his reading.

Rainbow Sketches, by Join. FRANCIS, is a collection of prose and verse. The articles are short, and therefore "do not tire if they should not please ;" the poetry is satirical and bantering, chiefly imitated from PRAED ; the prose is also for the most part of a lively kind, and reminds one of the skits on fashion and fashionables which enriched the pages of the New Monhlty in its best days. The average of merit rises certainly above that of Annual literature ; so that the writer may be said to have attained his end, which was to furnish something like an Annual for the months when those Books of the Boudoir are out of season.

Zarania, a Poem, is a tale of Spanish romance ; the scene of which is laid before the expulsion of the Moors from Spain. Both in the wildness of his story and in his versification, the author reminds us continually of Lara, though at a considerable dis- tance; but, alas! in poetry, even a good imitation will excite small interest at any period, much less in times like these.

The words " fifth edition" would seem to render comment un- necessary; but we cannot let this revised edition of the Reverend ALEXANDER STEWART'S Compendium of Modern Geography pass without a word of commendation. The geographical lessons are brief, clear, and yet sufficient ; the remarks which follow them contain little mines of historical and statistical information; the questions for exercise are well adapted to the remarks ; the de- scriptive tables appended to each country form a sort of miniature gazetteer, as useful in the office as in the school ; and lastly, the illustrative maps, though small, are capital.

Le Gil Blas de la Jeunesse, is an expurgated edition of the charming adventures of the nephew of the Canon of Oviedo. The editors assure us that they have made " the necessary retrench- ments with the most scrupulous care;' and we must say they have succeeded better than we should have thought possible. The fair proportions of the original work have indeed shrunk amazingly, but enough still remains to interest those who do not know it, or even those who do. It may be added, that the earlier chapters are accompanied by a translation, at first interlinear, and afterwards free. Foot-notes, explanatory of idiomatical expres- sions, are appended throughout.

Messrs. Scow and WEBSTER have sent forth a very neat and portable edition of Dr. ROBERTSON'S History of America, the most interesting and fascinating work of that historian. The life of the author, by DOGALD STEWART, is prefixed to the volume; which is also illustrated by maps of Mexico and the West Indies; so that the reader may put this reprint into his pocket on a journey or a country stroll, and when tired of idleness, set him- self to a pleasant study with all appliances at hand. For the sake of compactness in size, the two books descriptive of the first settlement of Virginia and New England are omitted, as are also the notes and illustrations ; with which curtailment we do not quarrel, for the latter are frequently omitted by the reader, and the ninth and tenth books originally formed no part of the history. But we should have preferred the original text without alteration, even though it professes to be condensed rather than abridged.

We have received four of Por.i.ocit's New Road Maps,—(I) Perth; (2) Lanark ; (3) Stirling and Dumbarton ; (4) the County of Edinburgh, with the portions of the adjoining counties. They are clear and legible, rather than pretty ; they are strongly and conveniently mounted on canvas, done up in a pocket-case; and besides the roads, they show the fishing-streams, ruins, cowl)

try-seats, &c. We should much like to test their accuracy this autumn by a personal survey.

Mr. MoxoN has again obliged the reading world with more col- lected specimens of CHARLES LAMB. The present volume opens with Rosamond Gray-a tale of higher merit in its conception and execution of peculiar characters and actual scenes, than in its in- cidents and in its structure-and closes with the farce of Mr. H. The intermediate papers are of greater value and interest in them- selves, besides possessing the charm of variety both in subject and manner. Among them are the articles published in the Reflector, the Remarks on r'HoGAETH, the Specimens of FULLER, and the observations on the Tragedies of SHAKSPEARE. The last, indepen- dent of its critical excellence, is curious for the style of its open- ing passages, which have all the ease and even the grace of ADDISON.

We have also two other reprints; one from Mr. BENTLEY-the Forty-Seventh Number of his Standard Novels, containing the whole of Mr. BULWER'S Paul Clifford; the other from Messrs. SIA1PKIN and MARSHALL-being a second edition of Mr. DAVID BOOTH'S comprehensive Tables of Discounts, Net Proceeds, and Percentage Profits.

In addition to all which, we have to acknowledge the receipt of Indian Sketches, taken during an Expedition to the Pawnee and

other Tribes of American Indians. By JOHN T. Jame, junior. In 2 vols.

The Career if Don Carlos since the Death of Ferdinand the Seventh. By his Aide-de-Camp, the Baron DE Los VALLES.