CURRENT LITERATURE.

Navigation and Nautical Astronomy. By John Merrifield, F.R.A.S., and Henry Evers. (Longmans.)—This is a very elaborate and complete work, which may be used in schools where these branches of knowledge are taught, or by men who are engaged in the practical application of them. The explanations, as far as we have examined them and are capable of forming a judgment about them, seem lucid and well arranged. The book is peculiarly rich in examples for the student to work out. Connected with the same subject, though of a more theoretical description, is A Treatise on the Action of Vis Inertia: in the Ocean, by William Leighton Jordan, F.R.G.S. (Longmans.)—" It is well known," to quote from the introduction, "that if an open vessel containing water be held in the hand and moved, the action of via inertias gives the water which it contains a tendency to move along the surface in the opposite direc tion to that in which it is moved Though the vessel containing the water be set in motion, the water tends to maintain its position." The question which the author discusses is whether this law comes into operation in the ocean through the motion of the earth. And he does it first by inquiring theoretically what this action of the vie inertia3 would be; and secondly, by practical investigation into the phenomena of ocean currents, which seem to coincide with the results at which the a priori reasoning arrive.. The book is illustrated by some very interesting charts.

Smoke; or, Life at Baden. By J. Tourguenef. 2 vole. (Bentley.)— Life at Baden means Russian life, for all the characters in the volumes before us are Russian. M. Tourguenef is one of the first novelists of his country, but this book does not present him in as favourable an aspect as one would wish. The story is an exceedingly disagreeable one. Our own novelists tell us enough about faithless wives to make us little an miens to become acquainted with Russian varieties of the germs. And we cannot suppose that the translation does justice to the original. We imagine it to have been made from the French. We find it said of a certain Vorochilof that "he knocked his toes together in military style." We have never observed this military habit, which indeed cannot be easy to practise. Can it be that the original is the French "talons ;" and that the translator makes a strange confusion between this word and " toes,' making our word " talons " a middle term ? But there are good things in the book, which, indeed, we noticed some years ago, before any translation into English had been made. The hero, for instance, wants to know why a certain Goubaref has such influence. He has neither talents nor character, he is told ; "but he has a powerful will, and among us slaves this is an article which does not abound." And there is something very pathetic in the saying that a Russian at once loves and hates his country.

History of Prussia. By M. A. D. (Whittaker.)—It may be supposed that nothing very complete on such a subject can be included in a small -volume like this. Five centuries, accordingly, from 1200-1700, are disposed of in trice as many pages. But the leading events from 1700 down to the present are given in what seems to be a carefully compiled and useful summary. One of the stories of Frederick William I. is new to us. He liked to have the portraits of his giants taken ; when these, as often happened, were but indifferent likenesses, he would have the man's face painted till it bore some sort of resemblance to the picture.

Leonora Casaloni. By T. A. Trollope. 2 vols. (Chapman and Hall.) —It is not difficult to predict what sort of novel Mr. T. A. Trollops will write when he tells an Italian story. We know that he has the advantage of being thoroughly at home in that country; we expect, therefore, and generally find, a certain power in the description of scenery and character. Nor shall we be wrong in expecting some very sharp

remarks on the Papal system, remarks often brought in with so little purpose and relevancy that they offend even those who are in nowise inclined to become defenders of things Papal. And we may also expect a fairly readable story, which, however, Mr. Trollope will take no pains to make pleasant, as far as the disposing of the characters is concerned. Doubtless he acts from a sense of duty ; possibly he wishes us to feel that while the Papacy remains dominant, stories generally cannot have a pleasant end. We are unreasonable enough to feel dissatisfied when they have not, and that whether the Pope be Antichrist, or no.

The Student's Manual of Modern Geography. By W. L. Bevan, M.A. (Murray.)—This manual is intended for advanced students, and is, on the whole, the best book of the kind that we have seen. The task of compressing into a moderate-sized volume the information which average readers want to find can now, when the subject-matter fa so vast, be accomplished with absolute success. We happened, for instali* to turn to the account of the Siberian lakes, and found it very meagre. Lake Baikal, which is certainly a noteworthy object, is dismissed with a line. On the other hand, many matters which we looked out are given with a quite satisfactory fullness ; and everywhere the information seems to be of the most recent. The historical illustrations of the geography strike us as especially well done. We notice a slight error in the spelling of the Elbruz mountain in the Caucasus. It is correctly given in the index ; but in the statement of the comparative heights of various eminences is confounded with the name (Elbarz) given to the range that extends to the south of the Caspian.

Captain W. J. Wyatt's Political and Military History of the Hanoverian and Italian War (Stanford) is illustrated by very full maps and plan, and forms,—allowing for the expression of the author's sympathies, which are strongly anti-Prussian,—an interesting and valuable work. That portion which relates to the Italian campaign has been published before ; the author now adds an account of the struggle in Hanover. A. story that includes the battle of Langensalza is naturally an agreeable task to him, and though no more deplorable and purposeless waste of brave men's lives has ever taken place, there is an heroic element in it which commands admiration.

Waverney Court. By George W. Garrett. 3 vols. (Chapman and 1.1a11.)—We are surprised to learn that this novel appeared in the St. James's Magazine. That periodical is, we believe, conducted by a lady who must know what a good novel is, if the having written a good novel gives such knowledge ; anything worse than this book we have not often seen. We were not favourably impressed by a passage in the first chapter. A clergyman called away to see a dying daughter, thus addresses his family, "I must go to the village first. The clergyman has duties which even the father must not forget. Then I will hasten to the train." Did any man ever talk like that ? But all sense of the fatuity of the style, and the weakness of the characters, is soon lost in disgust at the plot. The hero is a young baronet ; we are carefully informed that he has been very profligate, and we do not see that it is even pretended that he is reformed ; nevertheless, he is made as happy as possible. Perhaps we must not complain of this, nor even of his having at least meditated bigamy. But we do complain of what the reader is permitted, we may say, compelled to believe about him, that is, that he has murdered his uncle, and that he has married the younger of two sisters, after having seduced the elder. It is true that these crimes are ultimately assigned to other persons, his exculpation from the latter of the two being most clumsily managed ; but the suggestions are unpleasant. After this, further criticism is scarcely needed ; but we may say that in some of the characters the ordinary licence of imitation is exceeded. Such a servile copy, for instance, as Mrs. Evelyn is of Mrs. Nickleby, is what no author ought to permit himself.

Thoughts and Notes. By Elihu Murat. (Cassell and Co.)—Mr. Burritt tells us that twenty-five years ago he started a paper that was "especially devoted to the Anti-Slavery cause, Peace, Temperance, and Self-Cultivation." On one of these points a great triumph has been obtained, in which he may fairly claim some share. -No one will object to wish him equal success in the others. One definite idea at least distinguishes him from the crowd of talkers who obscure great questions, and that is the "ocean penny postage." We do not know whether he actually invented the notion ; he has certainly identified his name with it, and we do not doubt that it will one day make him immortal. We only wish that we could be certain that another of Mr. Barritt's aims, universal peace, were rendered at all more easy of accomplishment by ready means of communication. Two French Marriages. By Mrs. C. Jenkin. 3 vole. (Smith and Elder.)—These three volumes contain two tales. Both are cleverly told; both show the author to be thoroughly at home in French scenes and among French people ; indeed, she is so much at home that once or twice she almost forgets to write English, as here, for instance :—" She felt sure that Madame Aubry was for something in this change of Paul's style." But though we see no difference in point of cleverness between the two, though both are equally well-intentioned, yet we should certainly say to all who may be inclined to take our advice, read the second rather than the first. It is more pleasant, and generally more wholesome. We suppose that the first is intended to display the dark, the second the bright side of the French system of arranging marriages ; but it would be lassy to object to the relevancy of either illustration. The darkness which round und the end of the first would come anywhere from the same ceases. A marriage contracted in a fit of disappointment would be equally certain under any system to end in trouble. And, on the other hand, however highly wemay value the dutiful obedience paid to the commands of parents, can we not imagine too high a price being paid even for that? "Raymond's Church shall be my Church," cries the young countess to the pastor who will not otherwise accept her as a daughter-in-law. Wo strongly object to such a morality. It may not hurt kings and queens, but it is deadly to the souls of private mon and women.

Rules and Cautions in English Grammar. By William Rushton, M.A. (Lougmans).—We have laoked through this book with considerable interest, sometimes, indeed, inclined to join issue with Mr. Rushton, but, on the whole, agreeing with his remark. We recommend the book especially to teachers. It will help to dissipate the delusion, which still may be found to exist, that there is no such thing as English grammar. This does not hinder us from believing, and, we suppose, Mr. Rushton would agree with as, that it will ba best taught by help of comparison with the more exact grammar of such a language as Latin. Among other remarks worthy of note we may specify those on adjectives. It is perfectly just to object to tho statement that "Adjectives are not names of things." It is curious, indeed, to see how the old philosophical questions perpetually reappear. In talking about the nature of substantives and adjectives, we may suddenly find ourselves involved in the controversy about the existence of matter. Has the thing, represented by the substantive, any existence independent of its qualities which are represented by adjectives ? If it has not, which has the better claim to a name which implies substance? May we take leave to question Mr. Rushton's note, on p. 18, "Compare candidus 'brilliant white' with albus 'dead white ;' and niger ' jet black' with ater dull black' "? Such an unqualified statement is misleading. Strangely enough, the New Latin Primer translates ater by "jet black ;" and something may be said on this side. We have, for instance, albus olor, and niger cygnus ; whereas these adjectives, according to Mr. Rushton, are not really opposed.

From the Levant, the Black Sea, and the Danube. 2 vols. By R. Arthur Arnold. 2 vols. (Chapman and Hall.)—Mr. Arnold's two volumes are made up of letters written en route, and he makes an apology, which we may say at once is scarcely needed, for any imperfections which may have arisen from this cause. He seems to have spent some months in Greece during the Cretan insurrection, and he laments the mistaken policy of Greek statesmen who give themselves up to the "grand idea," i.e., territorial aggrandizement and supremacy over the Christians of the East, while roads and bridges are things of the future, the fruitful soil is uncultivated, the finances of the country are in disorder, and brigandage is freely employed as an engine of warfare between contending political factions. At the same time, he does justice to the progress which Athens itself has made from a mere collection of hovels to a place having some pretentions to the rank of an European city. He was present at the election by ballot of members of the Bottle, and was much pleased with the order and decorum with which the voting was conducted. If we mistake not, his account of the scene has already appeared in print. He also spent some time in Eubcoa as the guest of an English gentleman settled at a large estate there, and had ample opportunities of observing the daily life and habits of the peasantry, and, moreover, of witnessing their carious religious ceremonies at Eastertide. He went on to Constantinople, and was delighted, as every one must be, with that loveliest spot in Europe, the Bosphorus. We have heard before his "Glasgow Engineer's "description of the cityas " a shower of wooden houses fallen into a grove of trees." From Constantinople he went to Odessa and Sebastopol. The most interesting region of the Crimea, the interior and south-eastern parts, with their lovely scenery, and the remains of successive races, Troglodytes, Aryans, Genoese, Karaites, Tartars, and many another, he does not appear to have visited. On the whole, Mr. Arnold has given to the public two pleasant and interesting volumes, which we can recommend to our readers.

Traditions of Edinburgh. By Robert Chambers. (W. and R. Chambers.)—This book was first published forty-five years ago. By a fortunate circumstance, to which we certainly owe the preservation of many interesting traditions, Mr. Chambers was brought into contact in his youth not only with great literary men of Edinburgh's best age, but with many other representatives of times that were passing away. He speaks, for instance, of having dined forty years ago with a lady who had seen the Young Pretender in Edinburgh. This lady, by the way, was the proprietor of "Dr. Anderson's pills," Dr. Anderson having been A physician of the time of Charles L, and the property having descended from him to his daughter, from her to a certain Thomas Weir, and from him to a great-niece, the old lady in question, who pointed " to the brief series of proprietors intervening between Dr. Anderson and herself as no inexpressive indication of the virtues of the medicine !" We have taken almost at random iespecimen of Mr. Chambers's recollections ; the book abounds with others of more importance. Edinburgh is, indeed, exactly the place where traditions most abundantly flourish. The capital of an enterprising nation, it has been the scene of many remarkable events and the habitation of many remarkable men, and its moderate size has always admitted of a certain unity in its society most favourable to the preservation of things worthy of being recollected. It could not

have found a batter chronicler than Mr. Chambers. It is itself a literary curiosity of no common kind to find an author bringing out, after an interval of nearly half a century, a new edition of a work of his youth.

Mrs. Overtheway's Remembrances. By Juliana Horatia Ewing. (Bell and Daldy.)—Mrs. Ewing, who is, we believe, a grandaughter of Dr. Wolff, republishes these charming little stories from Aunt Judy's Magazine. We strongly recommend the young people who have not read them there to make a pleasant atonement for their neglect, or the neglect of their elders, by making acquaintance with them now. Little Ida, and the old lady to whom she gives the name of Mrs. Overtheway, are equally delightful persons, and we shall hope to meet them again.

Historic Ninepins. By John nubs. (Lockwood.)—This is a book which altogether defies criticism. The purpose of the book—if it has a purpose beyond existence—is to bring together a number of historical facts or quasi-facts that have been asserted, denied, and, as is sometimes the case, asserted over again. The terra "Ninepins," we presume, is used for what is often standing and often falls. But Mr. Timbs travels far beyond these boundaries. In fact, he has given us hero a vast collection of historical "odds and ends," which make up a very amulet; book, a book, of course it must be understood, to be taken up now and then, rather than to be read through.

Paul Goslett's Confessions. (Virtue.)—We wonder who may bo the author of these little papers, which we see are reprinted from St. Paula Magazine. Has some one been imitating Mr. Lever, or has Mr. Lover been imitating himself ? The scene in which Paul pays a visit to Sir James Magruber, the British Minister at Naples, reminds us of a similar scene in A Day's Ride, and must, at tho least, have been executed by a skilful disciple. The whole story is good ; the main idea, a gentleman receiving his own ransom in the character of a brigand, is peculiarly happy. The other two sketches, Paul as the guest of tho Rev. Daniel Dudgeon, an Orange parson in Ireland ; and Paul as the manager of a hydropathic establishment in Germany, though not equally good, are sufficiently amusing.

Prehistoric Nations. By John D. Baldwin, A.M. (Sampson Low)... Mr. Baldwin sets himself to prove that the various civilizations of the ancient world wore preceded by one of older date, which was the work of the Ethiopians or Arabian Cushites. This people he finds in Phoenicia, in Chaldea, in India, in Africa, it may almost be said everywhere. He brings to the support of this thesis a considerable amount of research ; but though ho has, it would aeon; road many books, he does not inspire us with much respect for his manner of using them. He is much too fond of arguing in this style. "The nautical science of the old Arabians must have boon equal to their groat commercial enterprise ;" the "groat commercial enterprise" being, as far as we can see, purely hypothetical ; and this again :—" It is in the highest degree probable that the Arabian Cushitea occupied India. It is unreasonable to suppose otherwise," toe. Nor does Mr. Baldwin prepossess us by his style of speaking of other inquirers. He even appears to impute to them a wilful ignorance. They seem to him to conspire to defraud his Cushites of their rightful honour. Writers whose authority Is certainly not inferior to that of Mr. Baldwin are dismissed in the briefest manner. "It is preposterous to talk of these structures [the rock-cut temples of India] as no older than the ninth or tenth century of the Christian era." Yet the statement has been made by those who have had good opportunities of judging, and made with especial reference to those structures which are ornamented with the symbols of Nature-worship, a distinctive sign, according to Mr. Baldwin, of Cushite origin.