PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.
From May 6th to May 20th.
• BOOKS.
The Life and Literary Remains of L. E. L. By LAMAR BLANCHARD.
In two vols.
Sketches of China ; partly during an inland journey of four months, be- tween Peking, Nanking, and Canton ; with notices and observations relative to the present war. By Joan FRANCIS Davis, Esq., F.R.S., &e., late his Majesty's Chief Superintendent in China. In two vols. The Marriage Ilfart; or Society to India. By an Indian Officer. In two vols.
The Sanative Influence of Climate; with an account of he -.est places o resort for invalids in England, the South of Europe, &c. By Sir JAMES CLARK, Bart., M.D., F.R.S., Physician in Ordinary to the Queen and to the Prince Albert. Third edition.
A Winter in the Azores, and a Summer at the Baths of the Furnas. By JOSEPH Boman, M.D., and 1:Lerav Beutau, of Lincoln's Inn. In two vols.
America, Historical, Statistic, and Descriptive. By J. S. BUCKINGHAM, Esq. In three vole.
The Queen's Poisoner; or France in the Sixteenth Century : a Romance. By LOUISA STUART COSTELLO, Author of " A Summer Amongst the Bocages and the Vines," Sec. In three vols. A Familiar Introduction to the History of Insects; being a new and greatly improved edition of the "Grammar of Entomology." By EDWARD NEWMAN, F.L.S., Z.S., &c. Practical Geology and Mineralogy ; with instructions for the qualitative analysis of minerals. By JOSHUA TRIMMER, F.G.S.
Memoirs of a Sergeant of the Fifth Regiment of Foot; containing an account of his service in Hanover, South America, and the Peninsula.
Dictionary of Dates and Universal Reference ; relating to all ages and nations ; comprehending every remarkable occurrence, ancient and modern—the foundation, laws, and government of countries—their pro- gress in civilization, industry, and science—their achievements in arms— the political and social transactions of the British empire—its civil, military, and religious institutions—the origin and advance of human arts and inventions, with copious details of England, Scotland, and Ire- land ; the whole comprehending a body of information, classical, politi- cal, and domestic, from the earliest accounts to the present time. By JOSEPH HAYDN.
[This is a very excellent work ; indispensable to the library, and useful to every one who may even occasionally have to seek for information or chro- nological facts on miscellaneous matters. Although the title of Dictionary of Dates conveys an impression of chronology being the principal feature, such is not exactly the case ; the distinguishing and most useful characteristic is, that the dates connected with a person, fact, or thing, are given with its explanation. For example, " Abeam " is a coin of Persia, whose value is about a shilling, first coined, &c. 1652. " Academies," after a brief defini- tion of the thing, and a notice of the most celebrated of antiquity, contains a list of the principal modern academics, with the dates of their foundation. Under every country, a chronological account of its leading events is presented, the most important of which may also be found with their circumstances under their respective heads; and the authorities are generally quoted through- out. In a volume of such magnitude, and dealing with such a variety of specific facts, omissions and mistakes must occur. It would perhaps be an improvement to give a list of Embassies ; since a search through the countries where the fact might be found would be troublesome, and probably ineffectual if the person were in haste: it would certainly be desirable in a future edition to complete " Trials " by giving the verdict in all cases, instead of occasionally, not merely for the fulness of the information, but because in many cases that may be the very point referred to. These are shortcomings or de- fects ; and many others of detail may doubtless be detected as the work is used ; but its general plan and execution are excellent, and its utility must be great.] British History, Chronologically Arranged; comprehending a classified analysis of events and occurrences in Church and State ; and of the constitutional, political, commercial, intellectual, and social progress of the United Kingdom, from the first invasion of the Romans to the accession of Queen Victoria. By JOHN WADE, Vice-President and Member of the Historical Section of the Institut d'Afrique of Paris. Second edition.
[Our favourable testimony to the value of this work was given on its first ap- pearance. Of the improvements introduced in the second edition we are not in a condition to report, further than this, that it embodies the Supplement of documents lately published separately.]
Your Life. By the Author of "My Life, by an Ex-Dissenter." [This volume professes to be the biography of a curate ; and is written to touch with a tender hand the few abuses, ' inseparable from human institutions," in the Establishment, but chiefly to display the excellences and virtues of its ministers. The method by which this is achieved is, the common and easy but false plan of taking exceptions for the rule—of embodying in one person such a variety of worth and ability as is rarely if ever found in an individual, and never in the members of a large profession. The book has therefore the untruth that characterizes all novels of didactic advocacy. In a literary point of view, it has a plain matter-of-fact air; but in effect we think it inferior to its predecessor, Illy Life, by an Er-Dissenter, because the form of composition is more suited to attack than defence : a fiction of this kind is a weapon which the satirist only can use with effect.]
The Bishop. A Series of Letters to a newly-created Prelate. [These letters purport to be really writtten to an actual Bishop ; but this may be doubted, from the rather superior and advising tone adopted by the layman to the spiritual lord, and that too upon clerical points. The idea of the work is derived from Mr. TAYLOR'S Statesman ; but the author of The Bishop wants the practical knowledge of episcopal matters which Mr. TAY- LOR had acquired in the Colonial Office of official principles of action and official life. The work is not without acuteness and sense ; and is written in a quiet and respectable style, after the fashion of a good sermon. There are many parts of it, however, that might pass for satire upon the successors of the Apostles : the writer's notions of the Church, or at least of churchmen, are not greatly dissimilar to those of the Reverend SYDNEY SMITH.] Up the Bed Sea and Down the Nile, in 1839. [A voyage from Bombay to Kosseer in a ship with an Arab captain and crew, a night-tramp through the desert of Arabia when shipwreck threatened, a land- journey from the Red Sea to the Nile, and a descent of the seven-mouthed river from Thebes to Cairo, are the subjects of this unpretending little book. The narrative throughout is artless and plain but not unpleasing ; and some of the marine sketches in the Red Sea, and the Arab pictures in the different towns touched at along its coast, almost rise to the graphic. The impelling cause to this voyage was the bertha being all engaged in the steamer• but as the party started from Bombay on the 28th January and did not reach Alexandria till the 15th May, we suspect few persons will feel inclined to follow their example. The only advantage over the luxurious comfort of an Indiaman sailing round the Cape, was to have the monotony of its regular life broken by the Mussulman listlessness and delay, and blind reliance upon fate ; and a power of observing many-coloured life among the Mahometau pilgrims of various nations, who overcrowded the decks of the vessel.] Dr. Ti ueman's Visit to Edinburgh in 1840. His introduction to the re- ligious world, so called ; or a series of dialogues illustrative of the ways, manners, and conversational powers of ladies engaged in active duties of benevolence. To which is added, a second edition of Mrs. Bountiful; Or Edinburgh Charities. By ANN WALKER.
[A rather commonplace satire on the religious society of Edinburgh, upon very obvious points of attack. Judging from some strange phraseology the writer pats into the mouths of ladies of rank, we should infer that she is not inti- mately acquainted with the class she undertakes to describe, but draws her high characters from low life—" "fis from a handmaid she must take a Helen."] The Wye and its Associations : a Picturesque Ramble. By LEITCH Rio-cane, Esq., Author of " Wanderings by the Loire," &c. [A very useful and agreeable pocket companion for any one about to visit the romantic scenery in the neighbourhood of the Wye, or, like Mr. Rerenua, to trace the river from its source on Pliznirornon to its confluence with the Severn. The Wye' however, is not merely an elegant guide-book, giving all necessary topographical, historical, and practical information to enable a tourist to enjoy his excursion : it is also a hook of home travel by an acute and experienced mind commenting upon what is seen as well as describing it. The opening chapter, for example, in which Mr. Rerente conducts his reader to Wales, expounding the true rationale of foreign travel, and defending those who go abroad whilst fine scenery is left behind them, is an instance of this almost
philosophical discrimination.] • Onwhyn's Pocket Guide to the Lakes ; or Tourist's Companion to the Beauties of Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lancashire : affording all necessary information on the subject of route, distances, inns, travelling- expenses, conveyances, &c. Illustrated with a map.
[A plain, concise, unpretending, and serviceable vade-mecum for every visiter of the Lakes, but especially for those with whom economy of time and money is an important consideration. It purports to be written by one who has passed a long time among the beautiful scenes he characterizes; but the route is planned with reference to the convenience of that large class of persons who can only spare a fortnight or so, and the estimate of expense is from 12/. to 15/.] A Treatise on Pyrosis Idiopathica, or Water-Brash, as contrasted with certain forms of indigestion and of organic lesions of the abdominal organs; together with the remedies, dietetic and medicinal. By THOMAS WEST, M.D., &c.
[Pyrosis, or Water-Brash, is a complaint arising from a diseased condition of the serous exhalants of the stomach, in which they pour out a hot and some- times acrid watery fluid, usually thrown upwards into the mouth. A notion of the disorder may be formed by dyspeptic patients when they have in- dulged in some indigestible meal, which, as they express it, " rises." In the true disease, these fluid risings are habitual ; but this deranged condition of the stomach is chiefly found amongst the poor, oriisinating in a coarse unnourisbing diet, and a cold damp atmosphere, conjoined with the other depressing cir- cumstances of poverty. Dr. WEST'S treatise upon this complaint is a ciear and sensible performance, based upon rational views : but perhaps his not very long book might have been made still shorter without any loss of information, as part of it consists less of remarks upon the thing itself, than of what other physicians have written about it.]
An P.'ast, Introduction to Chemistry. By GEORGE SPARKES, late Madras Civil Service.
[An excellent plan of teaching the elementary principles of the science by practical demonstration : the experiments are classed, and rendered simple, inexpensive, and free from danger.]
Fallacies of the Faculty; with the principles of the chronn-thermal system. In a series of lectures. By SAMUEL DICKSON, M.D., late a Medical Officer on the Staff. Second edition.
A Selection from the Physiobigical and Horticultural Papers, published in the Transactions of the Royal and Horticultural Societies, by the late
THOMAS ANDREW KNIGHT, Esq.. President of the Horticultural So- ciety of London, &c. To which is prefixed, a Sketch of his Life. [Of the value of these contributions to the science of vegetable physiology, scientific horticulturists alone can judge; but the high reputation of their author gives them a prima fiteie claim to attention ; and they are doubtless deserving of republication in a separate form. The memoir is meagre and scattered, but an apology is made for it on the score of haste and necessity ; the party who was to have furnished it failing to do so.]
Stories for the Young. By Mrs. litchi; Authoress of " The Village School."
[ Short and simple narratives of actual incidents, and descriptions of real scenes, calculated by their nature and the graphic power of the writer to im- press the youthful mind with moral lessons : the prose sketches are interspersed with pretty verses, and the whole forms an engaging and improving little book of a superior kind for children.]
Poems. By ROBERT ARIS WILLMOTT.
[A small collection of occasional verses ; elegant and harmonious enough, but not of such novelty in their subjects, or of poetical excellence in their execu- tion, as to require notice, or perhaps to be worth publication in a volume.]
First Lore; a Drama, in five acts. By CONWAY Eau-mars, M.R.C.
The French School. Part L—L'Echo de Paris : a selection of familiar phrases, which a person would daily bear said around him if he were living among French people ; with a vocabulary of all words and idioms i
used in the work. By M. LEPAGE, Professor of the French Language in London. Fifth edition.
[An easy introduction to French conversation, the popularity of which is attested by its sale.]
German Exercises, with a Grammatical Introduction. A Guide to Ger- man writing. By FRANCIS STROMEYER, Ph.D., &c.
SERIALS.
Elijah the Tishbite. Translated from the German of the Reverend F. W. KRUMMACHER, D.D., Author of " Elisha," &c. (Christian Library edition.) [The enterprising publisher of this copyright translation from the German of Karwarac FIER, the only one containing the entire work, calla attention to our praise of Warerley as the cheapest of modern publications; and proffers his own as being " better printed, more elegant in appearance, and occupying (196 pages) nearly twenty pages more than Waverley, while the price is only three shillings and sixpence, being sixpence less than the latter work." Putting aside attractive power, we may add further elements of cheapness : the type seems smaller, so that even an equal number of pages would contain a greater quantity of matter; and as this is a new translation, a greater number of years must elapse before it would he possible to reprint it like Waverley.] The Guide to Trade—The Baker; including Bread and Fancy Baking, with numerous receipts.
[A brief sketch of the history of bread-making, an account of the process of baking, with a variety of receipts for fancy-cakes, and a mention of the different substances used instead of flour : a useful manual for the housewife.] Historical Sketches of the Old Painters. Second Bristol edition. (Standard American Literature.) Brayley's Thpographical History of Surrey, Part VIII. Johnson's Philosophic Nuts, No. V.
PERIODICALS.
Asiatic Journal, May.
Calcutta Journal of Natural History, October 1840.
The Bengal Directory, and third Quarterly Register for the year 18.10.
PAMPHLETS.
Import-Duties considered in reference to the present State of the Trade of Great Britain and her Possessions, with the tables prepared by order of the Select Committee thereon. By THOMAS SMITH, Hon. Sec. to the Provisional Committee of the London Chamber of Commerce.
[A well-displayed exhibition of the principal statistical tables laid before the Committee on Import-Duties, with several additions, some remarks by the compiler, and the Committee's Report. The additions to the statistics comprise additional columns to the analysis of the Tariff, giving, where practicable, the price of the article and the rate per cent of the duty. The remarks are by a commercial Conservative, with the practical knowledge, but rather confined and single-class views that characterize the body. It is curious, though, to see the steady advance of truth : Mr. HUSHISSON, once the object of vituperation of the practical man, is now the authority. The main object of the pamphlet is a legitimate one : it is to inculcate fixed and not ad valorem duties.]
As Essay on Free Trade : its absolute value in theory, its relative value in practice, error and consequences of its application to the Corn-laws. By F. C. [A poor and pointless display of monopoly principles, without the practical knowledge and ability by which they are sometimes supported. F. C. has but a very superficial knowledge of political economy, a rather complete indifference to its facts, and no small share of flippant confidence.] The Speaker's Eye : a Satire. By F. R. [A poetaster's feeble and one-sided attack upon the Ministerial and Liberal Members, in schoolboy verse.] The "Pith and Marrow" of the present Controversy in the Church of Scotland. By a Protestant of the school of the Reformation. This Country must be Governed. Letter to the Honourable Henry Clay, President of the American Coloni- zation Society, and Sir Thomas Fotcell Buxton, Chairman of the Ge-
neral Committee of the African Civilization Society, on the C,olonization. and Civilization of Africa. With other documents on the same subject. By R. R. GURLEY. Extracts from the Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the condition of the Hand-Loom Weavers. Reprinted for the use of the working-men of Northampton, by RAISES CURRIE. The Constitution of the Church of Scotland, as established at the Revo- lution 1689-90; exemplified in the Acts of the Estates of Parliament and the Proceedings of the Church. By ALEXANDER PETERRIN, So- licitor, Supreme Courts. The Spirit of Magna Charta ; or Universal Representation the genius of the Britis:i Constitution. By Wm. ATKINSON, Author of " Principles of Political Economy," &e.
Slavery and the Slave-trade in British India; with notices of the exist- ence of these evils in the islands of Ceylon, Malacca, and Penang, drawn from official documents.
The Common Sense View of the Sugar Question. Addressed to all classes and parties.