PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED Frain January 191/, to January 251h.

BooKs.

Fifty Days on board a Slave- Vessel in the Mozambique Channel, in April and May 1843. By the Reverend PASCOE GRENFELL HILL, Chaplain of H. M. S. Cleopatra.

Memoir and Correspondence of Mrs. Grant of Laggan, Author of "Let- ters from the Mountains," "Memoirs of an American Lady," &c. Edited by her Son, J. P. GRANT, Esq. In three volumes.

Memoirs of William Smith, LL.D., Author of the "Map of the Strata of England and Wales." By his Nephew and Pupil, JOHN PHILLIPS, F.R.S., F.G.S., Professor of Geology and Mineralogy in the Univer- sity of Dublin, Author of "Illustrations of the Geology of Yorkshire." Recollections of Ceylon, after a Residence of nearly thirteen years; with an Account of the Church Missionary Society's Operations in that Island, and Extracts from a Journal. By the Reverend JAMES SELKIRK, Curate of Middleton Tyas, Yorkshire.

James of the Hill ; a Tale of the Troubles in Scotland, A. D. 1630. By J. A. CAMERON, Esq. In three volumes. This novel is founded upon two anecdotes or incidents in the celebrated Scot- tish antiquary SPALDING ; one telling that, on the 1st of January 1630, a brawl took place between the Laird of Frendraught and William Gordon of Rothiemay, with their respective followers, in which the Gordon was slain. The next story relates to the same families, but to a later period, when Vis- count Aboyne, a son of the Marquis of Huntly., and John Gordon, eldest son of the William slain by Frendraught's people in 1630, supped with their at- tendants at Frendraught's castle, and were burnt in their beds, by the malice, " as was reported," of the Laird and his wife. These stories form the alpha and omega of James of the Hill; Mr. CAMERON explaining the origin of the fetid by means of a false friendship, mortgage with arrears of interest, a quarrel about right of fishing, with a formed design by Frendraught and his wife to obtain the estates of the Gordon. As the story advances, the plot is thickened by Lady Frendraught's passion for Colonel Rollock, the English lover of Kate Gordon ; the abduction of Kate by some Highland outlaws, and her rescue ; the designs of a rascally melodramatic tool of Lady Frendraught upon her for- tune through her person; and various political and historical scenes in Edin- burgh and London, whither Colonel Rollock goes on the suit of the Gordons, to use his interest with Charles the First and Queen Henrietta. James of the Hill is a Highland outlaw, who appears in the opening anxious to embroil the rival Lairds ; but he subsequently watches over the Gordon interest, somewhat after the fashion of SCOTT'S favourite wonder-working characters. He does not, however, play a part sufficiently conspicuous to give a title to the book. We have more than once had occasion to remark upon the difficulty of taking real incidents as the groundwork of a romance and trying to connect with them fictitious circumstances; invention appearing to be easier than dove- tailing in the production of a fable, or at all events the invention producing more homogeneity. Mr. CAMERON is not a person to vanquish this difficulty. Indeed, he has no quality of a novelist beyond a species of vigour in sketching a scene, with a clever imitation of what may be called SCOTT'S style of colour- ing—that sort of general effect which first catches the eye in a picture, and suggests the school if not the master. Judged by what we see in his book, be has no knowledge of the age beyond the vulgarest facts • and he wants ima- gination to vivify such scanty knowledge as he has, whick really amounts to little more than old spelling. Many writers of fiction, deficient in acquaint- ance with life, have a metaphysical skill that secures coherence in the story however improbable, and consistency in the characters however unnatural. But Mr. CAMERON does not even reach this excellence. His persons resemble characters at a masquerade, and his events the incidents in melodramas,—from which, indeed, some of his skirmishes and conflagrations would seem to have been copied.] The Mysteries of Paris ; a Novel. By EUGENE SUE. Translated from the French, by CHARLES H. Toww, Esq. [An American translation of EUGENE SUE'S novel, framed to include liketches of the scenes and crimes of Parisian life. This book is a double- column volume, and resembles the cheap " Novel Newspaper" in the style of getting-up; though it is published by HARPER and BROTHERS, of New York.] The Albanian, a Tale of Modern Greece ; a Poem. By C. J. COLLINS. [This little poem has the rapidity, variety, and interest of a story; especially in the first canto, descriptive of a chase and sea-fight between a Greek smug- gler and a Turkish cruiser, and in the last embracing a night-attack by the Greeks on the Turkish besiegers of Missolonghi. The versification, too, though derived from BYRON, and somewhat rough, has motion and a sort of vigour. But The Albanian wants the homogeneousness which arises from an original observation of nature, or from the exercise of great power of imagination and skill. The want of distinctness and specific truth is felt throughout. The chase in the first canto depicts a Turkish revenue-cutter pursuing a smuggler : Greek mariners under such circumstances would have "laughed at the beards" of the clumsy Turks. Mr. COLLINS intimates that he derived the incident from a prose tale in an Annual ; but Annuals,even of " celebrity," are not the best field of study for a poet.] The Prayer-Book a Safe Guide ; or the Devout Churchman's Way of Faith and Practice. Lectures delivered at St. John's Church, Chelten- barn, during Lent 1843. By the Reverend ALEXANDER WATSON, M.A., Curate of the Church. [A series of sermons on the authority of the Prayer-Book over members of the Anglican Church, with arguments to show, that not only are its doctrinal ex- positions Scriptural and primitive, but they are to be received as such by those who may not have leisure to search into the opinions of the early Church. We also infer that those who have leisure, and use it, are not to be permitted to draw their own conclusions, under pain of excommunication. Mr. WAT- soN's leanings are towards Puseyism ; and he exhibits much of the quiet ele- gance of style and mildness of feeling which distinguish that section of the Church : but his logic is of the weakest ; as indeed must always be the case where the truth of interpretation is made to rest upon authority, the authority of which authority is either latently assumed, or derived from an inter- pretation which is matter of dispute. The propriety of expelling those who violate the regulations of any ecclesiastical corporation is quite clear : all that can be required from a church professing to allow the right of private judgment is, not to persecute those who exercise it, either in deed or word.]

The Use of the Catechism, the Baptismal Vow, and the Means of Grace, considered in twelve Lectures, preached in Lent 1841. By the Reve-

rend CHARLES SMITH BIRD, M.A., F.L.S., lice Fellow of Trinity Col-

lege, Cambridge. Second edition.

[The words " second edition " would indicate that these sermons have consi- derable merit : and such is really the case. Like many of the more active and zealous of the modern clergy, Mr. BIRD seems to be a member of the Reformed as opposed to the Protestant Church. He also holds the doctrine that actual i grace is communicated to the infant in baptism, and appears to lean to the opinion that the salvation of unbaptized infants is doubtful. But he is strongly opposed to the Romanists.] An Inquiry into the Nature of the Simple Bodies of Chemistry. By DAVID Low, F.R.S.E., Professor of Agriculture in the University of Edinburgh. [This investigation is useful as a manual for the young student, from its plain and popular form : it is, however, intended to serve as the basis of an argument in favour of a doctrine formerly broached to a certain extent by Sir HUMPHREY DAVY, though subsequently abandoned by him, but which Professor Low adopts and carries out still further. The doctrine is, that hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon, are the primitive elements of which all bodies, hitherto regarded as simple, are composed ; and it is grounded on the hypothesis that these bodies, fifty-five in number, arc regarded as simple merely because the present means of analysis are inadequate to their decomposition.] Notes on Natural History : selected from the "Microscopic Cabinet." Illustrated by ten coloured engravings, from original drawings made by C. R. GORING, M.D. By ANDREW PRITCHARD, M.R.I., Author of "Microscopic Illustrations," &c. [ A. selection from some of the most curious articles and most striking plates of the Microscopic Cabinet, an expensive and elaborate publication, which was among the first to stimulate popular attention to the wonders unfolded by the microscope in the all but invisible world. The papers in this little manual describe the favourite places, habits, forms, and characters of the ani- malculae treated of, with directions for the best times and manner of viewing them through the glass.]

A Handbook for Travellers in Ireland; descriptive of its Scenery, Towns,

Seats, Antiquities, &c. With various statistical tables ; also an Out- line of its Mineral Structure, a brief View of its Botany, and Informa- tion for Anglers. By JAMES FRASER, Landscape Gardener and De- signer of Rural Improvements. Third thousand, corrected and enlarged. [A new and greatly-improved edition of the Guide through Ireland; containing fuller notices of the towns, antiquities, and physical characteristics. The plan of the work is this : Dublin is taken as a centre ; roads radiate from it to the extreme corners of the island, some principal place being made the point of termination to each route ; the features of the country and the re- markable places along these routes are noted, together with the distances and other particulars ; and coloured maps of the principal roads accompany the de- scriptions. The census of 1841 is included, and notices of the geology and botany i of Ireland are added; with hints for anglers. In short, this hand- book s a complete and useful itinerary for the tourist in Ireland.]

The Metropolitan Charities ; being an Account of the Charitable, Bene- volent, and Religious Societies, Hospitals, Dispensaries, Penitentiaries, Annuity Funds, Asylums, Almshouses, Colleges, and Schools, in London and its immediate vicinity.

[A classified list of the various public institutions in the Metropolis, having for their object the relief of distress, the propagation of religious opinions, and the education of the rising generation ; stating the objects of each, the sources of income, the qualification of governors, and the channels of admission. This useful guide to the benevolent societies of London might be made still more serviceable, by the addition of further particulars as to the state of the funds and the numbers who benefit from them : these are given in some instances only : the desirable information may not, indeed, be obtainable in every case.] The Elements of Commercial Arithmetic ; containing an improved de- velopment of the principles of the science, with the most general calcu- lations in the practice of the counting-house. New and corrected edi- tion. By WILLIAM TATE. A Key to the Elements of Commercial Arithmetic. By W. TATE.

[We noticed this work on its first appearance as a useful and practical book. The improvements in the present edition seem rather to consist in a general revision than in any new features. The Key, we think, is new.]

A Catalogue of Books published in the United Kingdom during the year 1843, including New Editions and Reprints.

[An annual, compiled, we believe, from a monthly " trade " publication, and furnishing a curious list of the book-business for the year 1843.] SERIALS.

The Churchman's Sunday Evenings at Home. By the Reverend ALEX- ANDER WATSON, M.A., Curate of St. John's, Cheltenham. Nos. L to III.

[This religious periodical is by the author of The Prayer-Book a Safe Guide; and displays in its execution the same merits as that publication, with some- thing more, perhaps, of popular treatment. Its object is to explain the reli- gious character of each Sunday, and the reason why the particular Lessons, Collects, &c. were assigned to that day, as well as to deduce lessons of faith and life from the facts or circumstances of the example. It will be found a useful and instructive book to Church-people, either for private or family reading.] Chambers's Cyclopedia of English Literature. Parts XIII. and XIV. [The last of these Parts closes the epoch terminating with 1780, and enters upon that which will embrace the present day. More interesting literary specimens might be selected from former numbers ; but the present contain some of the most useful information, as it relates to the periodical publications and minor authors of the last century, besides the great prose writers of the period.]

ILLUSTRATED WORKS AND PRINTS.

The Ancient and Modern Ballads of Chevy Chace ; with Notes, Musk, and new Pictures, by F. T. (The Home Treasury.) The Lively History of Jack and the Bean-stalk; setting forth for the first time during many years a faithful and particular account of that hero's wonderful Adventures in the Country of the Bean-stalk, and his triumph over the murderous Giant who inhabited it ; the History being told by HARRIET JACKSON, the possessor of the MS. documents of Jack's family, and the Pictures painted by a Young Master. (The Home Treasury.) [Two more of FELIX SCMMERLY'S elegant little books for children. This edition of Chevy Chace will be acceptable to readers of all ages; for it presents 'both the original old song, of which Sir PHILIP SYDNEY said " it moved him more than the sound of a trumpet," and the modernized version,—which last, however, is a century or two old. The ancient ballad, taken from PEncr's collection, is spelt in the modern way, and foot-notes are given ex- planatory of obsolete words: an introduction and historical notes are also added to the more modem one; the text of which is in one place much improved by adapting two or three stanzas from the original. The notes of the tune are also prefixed. The designs are by FREDERICK TAYLER ; who has expressed the chivalrous spirit of the " woful hunting " : they are slight pen-sketches, but the tints of lithography and washes of colour combined make them effective pictures. The " Young Master" who has illustrated Jack and the Bean-stalk is C. W. COPE ; who has properly given an outlandish character to Jack's costume, and picturesque foliage to the Bean-stalk: we only object to the Giant, whose horrid attributes by no means come up to the description in the text.] Gailhaluzud's Ancient and Modern Architecture, Parts XV. and XVI. [These two Parts are the commencement of the second series of this erudite and elaborate work. The structures delineated and described in them are the Parthenon at Athens, the Cathedrals of Frey-burg and Palermo, and the Celtic monuments of France: such should be their contents, but one Part is deficient of a description and the other of two plates.]