23 FEBRUARY 1878, Page 24

NEW EDITIONS AND REPRINTS.—An English Garner. Ingatherings from our History

and Literature. By Edward Arbor. (E. Arbor, South- gate, London.)—Mr. Arbor has collected here a curious and interesting repertory of prose and verse. The earliest in date, as far as we have observed, is an account, written by some unknown person who had served in the expedition of the Earl of Hertford into Scotland in 1544 (misprinted " 1514," in the table of contents). Among other curious items, are a dialogue between a citizen and a countryman about " the Great Frost of January, 1608," and about the" Lottery;"" The Captivity of John Fox, of Woodbridge, Gunner of the Three Half-Moons,' by the Turks ;" and "Nineteen Tears Captivity in the Kingdom of Conde Uda, in the Highlands of Ceylon, by Captain Robert Knox," a remarkably interesting narrative ; and perhaps best of all " Three to One," being the adventures of an English gentleman who strayed from Lord Essex's expedition in 1625, was taken prisoner, and fought for his life with a quarter-staff against three Spaniards armed with rapiers and poniards, before a concourse of spectators. The Englishman, R. Peake (he tells the story himself), bore himself bravely, and seems to have been very well treated. We heartily recommend this volume (to be followed in due coarse by a second) to our readers.— Wriothesley's Chronicle,1485- 1559. Edited by William Douglas Hamilton. 2 vole. (The Camden Society.)—The Book of Scottish Poems, Ancient and Modern, edited, with Memoirs of their Authors, by J. Rosa (the Edinburgh Publishing Company), is a collection of Scottish poems from the earliest to the most recent date. The semi-mythical Thomas of Ercildoune occupies the first place, and John Barbour the second. The " King's Quair " of James I. is given in its integrity. The earlier poets occupy, as it is right that they should, considering the general inaccessibility of their works, a large portion of the volume ; but the moderns are not inadequately represented.—Of New Editions, we have Lord Macaulay's Life and Letters, by George Otto Trevelyan, M.P., 2 vols. (Longmans), a reprint, in smaller volumes and at a dimin- ished price; A Manual of English Literature, by Thomas Arnold, M.A., "a fourth edition, revised" (Longmans),—considerable additions have been made, especially to the chapters which deal with early English literatnre ; Life in Christ, a Study of the Scripture Doctrine on the Nature of Man, the Object of the Divine Immortality, and the Conditions of Human Immortality, by Edward White, " a third edition, revised and enlarged" (Eliot Stock). Mr. White adds a new preface, in which he gives some remarkable quotations, the most striking of which is the testimony of an ex-Roman Catholic as to the inefficacy as a deterrent of the doctrine of endless punishment ; The Trial of Theism, Accused of Obstructing Secular Life, by George Jacob Holyoake (Triibner) ; The Life of Mahomet, by the Rev. Samuel Green (Tegg); Gold, Legal Regu- lations for the Standard of Gold and Silver Wares in Different Countries of the World, translated from tho German of Arthur von Stndnitz by Mrs. Brewer, with notes and additions by Edwin W. Streeter (Chapman and Hall); The Beauties of Shakespeare, by the late Rev. William Dodd, LL.D. (Bickers); Not Tradition, but Scripture, by the late P. N. Shnttleworth, D.D., afterwards Bishop of Chichester (Rivington) , " The Works of George Eliot, Cabinet Edition," Romola, V ols. I. and II. (Blackwood) ; Poems and Lyrics, by Robert Nicoll (Paisley : Alex. Gardner).