PROGRESS OF PUBLICATION.

WHEN the Commissioners were appointed to investigate the prac- tical operation of the Poor-laws in England and Wales, they very properly suggested, that the inquiry uuiiglmt advantageously be ex- tended to other countries. Circulars were sent from the Foreign Oilice to most of our resident Ministers and Consuls both in Eu- rope and America, directing them to return answers to a list of questions drawn up by the Commissioners, and which questions were intended to exhaust the subject. The replies to these queries of course varied with the abilities of the Minister, and with the condition and laws of the people amongst whom he re- sided, as well as with the attention the Governments bad given to the subject. Answers, however, came, though most of them too late for the more immediate object of profiting by the experience of other nations in the reformation of our own Poor-laws. For the purpose of affording hints in the working of the new bill, they are in plenty of time, as well as to furnish materials for useful knowledge or philosophical speculation. The whole of these communications are contained in the Ap• pendix to the Poor-Law Report. To these official documents, Mr. SENIOR affixed a Preface, which he has republished, under the title of Statement of the Provision for the Poor, and qf the Condition of the Labouring Classes, in a considerable portion of America and Europe ; and which, for all general purposes, will supersede the original, whilst it may be used as an introduction and a guide to the study of the Reports themselves. The author, in his opening pages, presents the reader with a general view of the subject : he next examines seriatim the communica- tions from each country, giving a coup dwil of the law, and extract- ing the pith of the Report. Two elaborate digests of the facts of the Answers are drawn up, corresponding to the leading questions sent out. They embrace the important matters of birth, the means of living, and death; and are as valuable for their facts as curious for their contrasts. Take two replies on the question as to whether labourers can subsist on their wages, one from the New World, one from the Old.

MASSACHUSETTS.

There are very few who do not eat meat, poultry, or fish, twice or three times a day

OSTEND.

In the towns, eating only potatoes and rye bread; the father being an unskilled artisan, and the towns pos- sessing no manufacture. In the coun- try, the same family would consume 3 little butter, some vegetables, and per , hops sometimes a piece of pork.

It may be gratifying to state the result of the examination from the facts collected—" that in every point of view, England stands in the most favourable, or nearly the most favourable position," ex- eluding North America from the comparison. Both the money and real the wages of agricultural labourers are greater : the Eng- lishman lives better, and lives longer, than his Continental fellows.

The Means of .1 meliorating India, is a tiny volume, containing some facts collected by Mr. AtuanuAie GRAHAM, during a long professional residence in that country as a surgeon on the Bombay establishment, but enveloped in a somewhat large commentary. The aims of the writer and his editor arc twofold, — to im- prove the spiritual character of the Maws, by the importation of missioliaries; and to advance their temporal pwsperity, by giving a stimulus to their industry, and finding markets for the produc- tions their increased labour could create. The first of the com- mercial objects might be accomplished, the author conceives, by the assistance of' English skill and capital ; the second is partly, though not wholly, dependent on English taxation. Before sugar and coffee can be profitably cultivated in the East Indies, the bounty on the West: Indian productions must be lowered; but the cotton and silk of Ilindostan comes into the market on equal foot- ing with those of any other place ; and in the opinion of Mr. GRA- HAM, they only require proper attention to compete with those of Italy anti America. Ills remarks on these subjects give the principal value to the book ; those on silk, especially, are well deserving attention. here are some of them.

" The high table- lands of the Deccan, situated beyond that extensive barrier of bills called the Western tilt:tuts, seem to hold out superior advantages to the fiat, low plai us of I htngal, or almost of any other country, for the cultivation of the white tutilbeiry and the rearing of silk-worms. In Italy, they dare not venture to ...rip the leaves from the trees more than once for the worms, which are slow in their progress in that climate; so that they can only have one crop of si!k in the year. lit the Deccan, the mulberry-trees thrive with the most surpririm; luxiniance, and, being in ;crpetual vegetation, may be deprived of their leaves SIX times in the yeat ; and this without injury to them, provided a few leaves are allowed to reinaiii a the tops of the branches. The progress of vegetation is NO rapid in that eotnitry, that fresh ones soon burst forth to supply the place of those which have 1,,e11 removed. The worm also is so rapul in its opera.

tions that six crops of silk ti the year eta with ease be obtained. Jo the Deccan, maned labour, in ronsequence of the habits of the natives, is so cheap, that a Ilindoo woman may be employed for about fourpence daily, and a man for fivepenee or simientte ; while in Italy, and every other European country, wages ;ire considei ably hi hier. In Italy, they are obliged to have recourse to :runes and warm en:Tents of air to teat the rooms in order to hatch the egg and rear the worm in its natural tempo ature. Front sudden changes of atmo- sphere, also, the insect in Italy is liable to disease. In the Deccan, we labour under tione of dose disadvantages. The silk-worm being there in its natural climate, requirrs zio it t iiititlmil. In all its varieties, from the copious transpi- ration of the watery part of the leaf through the pores of its body, it requires a dry, warm, and equable atmosphere to carry off the insensible perspiration ; and pal tieularly when such vast numhers of the worms are feeding together in the same MOM. The climate of the Deccan, from its great elevation, from the mildness of the rains, from its temperature, dryness, and equability, is the most congenial to the silk-worm of any in the world; yet, notwithstanding these decided advantages for the cultivation of silk in the Deccan, ii. has been hitherto neglected ; while in Italy, with all its natural disadvantr ,ts, silk has long been cultivated, and is become the grand source of the national -wealth."

• ■••■•11

The Banished Lord; " a dramatic novel, in twenty shapters," is rather a sort of dramatic poem, where the speeches are in verse, and the descriptions—very long and numerous stage directions— in prose. The scene oft be drama is laid at Windsor during the time of EDWARD the Thud; and the interest turns upon the common novel incident of a high-born noble falling in love w:th a lady of mysterious birth and humble fortunes. In the present case, the foster-child is the daug!ner of the Banished Lord ; and after the usual difficulties from the suitor's father and from sarious rivals, the mystery is explained, and the lovers are united on the day the sentence of the Banished Lord expires. In the subject matter there is no novelty, and what is old in itself is not made new by any skill in arrangement : as regards the versification and imagery, the poetry is of an average kind, but it has no pretensions to be called dramatic.

Ernest Campbell, a novel in three volumes, by the author of " Aurungzebe,' is an improvement upon Mr. AINSLIE.s former work ; but he is as yet very far short of excellence. It was a vaulting ambition to bring his hero into the Pretender's army during the campaign of the Forty-live, and to aim at describing Scottish life at the same period. Neither was it a judicious thing to overlay his scenes with minute descriptions of the dresses of Ins persons, the furniture of the rooms, Sec. To render such matters interesting, there must be novelty in tke subject, know- ledge in the author, and, force and truth ih his manner of painting.

. .

Mr. CYRUS REDDING has published a Second Series of Ship- wrecks and Disasters at Sea, in two volume. , forming, at the option of the purchaser, a separate work, or a ..ontinuation of the former one, which originally appeared in Code table's Miscellany. It is probable that the more striking subjects were taken for the fast series; but enough still remained to enable Mr. REDOING to form two volumes of considerable interest, not only for their narratives of hardships endured, difficulties surmounted, and hair- breadth escapes, but for the quaint style of the older historians, or still better, for the homely simplicity of the sufferers themselves ; Mr. REDOING having had the good sense to alter his originals no mere than was necessary for the purpose of compression.

Under the title of 4 Practical Tier , on Teething, Mr. J.

PATESON CLARK has published a popularly-written little book, containing a plain account of the nature and formation of the teeth, and of the changes which those important organs undergo from birth till the appearance of the "wisdom-teeth," The ex- planation he gives is clear, and his opiniorra seem judicious ; but the sum of them is—from six to seven years of' age frequently submit a child's mouth to the inspection of a skilful dentist, and when he recommends what the book advises, let it be done.

The Picture of Slavery in the Unitel States, by GEORGE BOURNE, an American minister, has been reprinted by M'Pnure; and if the picture be at all like, the original must he dreadful in- deel. We do not speak so much of physical sullinings —for these, we suppose, are pretty much the same wherever brutal passion is allowed unlimited sway ; and, at all events, we have heard enough of them : we allude to the moral corruption, the crimes against nature and affection, which Mr. lleueste asserts to be the national characteristics of the slave-holding States; and which, if his statements are true, realize some of the worst horrors charged against the Paganism of ancient Syria and modern llindostan. Fenn the mixture of epithets and vague declamation with which his statements are intermingled, we Intro hopes, however, that his accounts must be received with extensive limitations, and that they are true oaly as applied to the slave " breeders."

Mr. THOMAS CLARK of' DIM uurgh has commenced a new pub- lication, under the title of The Student's Library Usinl Tenets; which, if properly conducted, will be of service to many besides students. The purpose of the originator is to present in a uniform shape awl at a reasonable price such tracts of excellence or value as appear in an ephemeral mode, or are locked up ii) expensive volumes. The contents of the four first numbers are in a certain sense both useful and valuable, but are not the best adapted to excite attention to a new undertakings We subjoin the titles ; ob- serving, that the second and third subjects possess the most mark.

I. Dr. Reynolds on the l`se my' the Eoes.

2. PresSssor Hitchcock on Me Connexion bchreen Geology and Natural

3. Dr. i lianning tOm Vitional Literature.

4. Mr. N..yris' :Literary 31-0(h!rn Greece.

A Picture of tke Neu, Town of Herne Bay, by a Lady, is not distinguished tbr any such peculiar merits as to separate it from tho general guide-books ; but it tells, we suppose, all that can be told about Ilerne Bay itself, and a good deal more than we thought could have been told about its vicinity. We had no idea that Herne Church could boast of such antiquity, or that the now neglected churches both of Herne and Chistet were formerly of such consi- deration as stalls imply. But in truth, the whole country, from Canterbury seawards, is richln ecclesiastical archawlogy. Would that WASHINGTON IRVING or his double would pass a summer in the district with a competent antiquarian, and give us the result in a guide-book that should last as long as Margate.

The possessor of pictures will find sonic useful hints On the Preserration of Oil Paintings, in the first five-and-twenty pages of a little duodecimo with this title, written by an artist who has turned picture-cleaner. The rest of the book is mere filling-up matter of a heterogeuous kind, bearing very indirectly on the main object. As far as regards keepint.r oil paintings clean, washing them with a sponge and water, and afterwards rubbing theta with a silk handkerchief, is all that is necessary, or that an inexperienced person should attempt. To clean and restore them, is the deli- cate duty of the picture-cleaner; who, to be fully competent to the task, should, to use the words of the writer, possess " a tho- rough knowledge of every thing that relates to the practice of painting, and the production of a picture, but more particularly its chemical constitution and colouring." As the author adver- tises himself to be a picture-cleaner, we presume he is in this category; and not one of those whom ()PIE speaks of, in the pas- sage quoted at the outset of the book, who " help time to destroy excellencies which they cannot 671."

There is a handsome octavo edition- of Gil Bias, in the original French, publishing in London in shilling numbers, which Forms part of a series of the French Classics. It is beautifully printed, and very cheap ; but its principal recommendation consists in the quantity of forcible and spirited wood-cuts with which the text is inlaid. The designs, by Gicoux, a French artist, display a free. dons and mastery of style that are rarely seen among our native artists, joined to a grotesque humour that occasionally runs into extravagance. The conception of character is not so felicitous as the scenic effect; and the expression of the faces is characterized by exaggeration rather than truth and delicacy.

LEIGH HUNT'S London Journal has lately taken to itself a Printing-Machine as a helpmate ; meaning, not the steam-press from which it is issued, but a weekly review, sa called, from its method and regularity, we suppose; and thus it assumes the com- pleter form of a literary journal in reference to book news, pre- serving intact the previous arrangement of the London Journal. LEIGH essays, however, are its chief attraction. He discourses with the ease and elegance of an accomplished talker, and the force and freshness of an original thinker, on any subject that comes across him—be it a. Fettle of strawberries,. or a passage in SRARSPEARE—the butcher, or some great genius; giving in- terest to the veriest commonplaces of everyday life, by bringing out their characteristics with playful touches of the pencil, and throwing the light of a clear intellect on the more subtle beauties of thought and expression in the poets—in short, giving to old enjoyments the charm of novelty, and to familiar objects the graces of fancy. Among the miscellaneous contributions, a series of papers entitled " Thoughts on Language," by EGERTON WEHBE, will repay the attention of the scholar. The writer displays learned research, exactness of thought, and a precision in the use of words that exemplifies the advantages of the " study of language," and, in addition to these essential qualities, a lively style and felicity of illustration that redeem the subject from its dryness.

In the Monthly Supplement, LEIGH Husercontinues to traverse the "Streets of the Metropolis ;" making old houses bright with the glory of their illustrious tenants, and peopling the streets with the remarkable characters of past times.

The Second Volume of Sir EGERTON BRYDGES' edition of MIL- TONcontains the first six books of "Paradise Lcst;" whose weight of character puts aside all chronological arrangements. The notes, to please the eye of the gazer by preserving the uniformity of the page, are relegated to the end of each book, and consist of a judi- cious selection from other commentators intermingled with the editor's own. Sir EGERTON has also given critical introductory remarks to each book : and we may add, that the embossments on the cover, which we mistook for heraldic hieroglyphics, are the armorial bearings of the poet.

The commencement of the month has brought its Serials as usual. The first and most important of them is (1.) The Fifty-second Volume of the Emily Library, which contains DEFOE'S Journal of the Plague Fear. Mr. BRAYLEY has undertaken the task of editor; and besides a careful revisal of the text, and the addition of historical notes, he has introduced the work by a critical preface, pointing out the sources to which DEFOE resorted, and endeavouring to estimate its historical value, whilst he gives in the appendix several curious documents illus- trative of the subject.

(2.) The Nineteenth Volume of the Sacred Classics, that con- tains VICESI NI US KNOX'S Christian Philosophy; to which agree- able endeavour to display by internal testimony the evidence and excellence of Revealed Religion, the Reverend II. STEBIJI NG has prefixed an Introduction.

(3.) The Second Part of Mr. SMART'S new edition of Walker's Critical Pronouncing Dicti(mary, entirely Remodelled; coming down to " C IIELONI AN: (4.) The Sixth Volume of the Reverend T. S. GRIM,511AWE'S edition of the Life and Works of Cowper, commences the Poetry ; to which the Reverend J. W. CUNNINGHAM has prefixed an Essay. It should be observed, that the appearance of the Fifth Volume is postponed in consequence of "a domestic calamity in the family of the editor."

(S.) The Second and concluding Volume of the revised edition of Bramble/ye House, in COLBURN'S Modern Novelists.

(6.) The whole of Homes Parson's Daughter ; forming the Forty-sixth Volume of the Standard Novels.

In addition to all the works finally dismissed, there are upon our table, waiting for notice, The First Volume of Mr. KNIGHT'S new edition of Smith's Wealth ef Nations, by the Author of " England and America ;" a novel un- dertaking, both in political economy and bookselling. Of the former we shall say something next week : we may observe now, that it is the first attempt to apply the fashionable mode of handsome periodical volumes to circulate political science.

Dr. ANDREW CRE'S Philosophy qf .1lanulitctures ; or an Exposition of the Scientific, Moral, and Commercial Economy of the Factory System of Great Britain.

The First Volume of the Reverend Co:excle TIIIRLWALL'S History of Greece, published in Lardner's Cyclopwdia.

Records of a Route through France and Daly, with Sketches of Catholicism. By WILLI AM RAE WI Lsos, the well-known author of " Travels in the Holy Land, Egypt," &e.

The Reverend WILLIAM KIRBY's Bridgewater Treatise, on the Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of God, as manifested in the Creation (,I" Animals, and in their History, habits, and Instincts.

Tales of the Peerage and the Peasantry; edited by Lady Dacas. In 3 vols.