22 FEBRUARY 1868, Page 23

The History of Monaco, Past and Present. By H. Pemberton.

(Tinsloy.)—We cannot say that we feel much interest in Mr. Pem- berton's subject, and the want is not supplied by his treatment of it. Monaco must be a pretty place, not only from what we remember of Tennyson's lines,-

• `

HOW like a gem beneath, the city Of little Monaco basking glowed."

but also from the description in one chapter of this volume. Yet we do not care to read biographical notices of a string of princes who happened to take their title from the town, and these form the staple of Mr. Pem- berton's book. We notice at the end that he talks of the gainbling- house as one of the " improvements " of Monaco, which reminds us of a speaker at the Oxford Union praising King Bomba for having built an arsenal.