PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

from November 28th to December 40.

Boosts.

The Dispatches of Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington, during his various Campaigns in India, Denmark, Portugal, Spain, the Low Coun- tries, and France. Compiled from official and other authentic Documents, by Colonel Gurwood, C.B., K.C.T.S., Esquire to his Grace as Knight of the Bath, and Deputy-Lieutenant of the Tower of London. Volume VI. History of the English Revolution of 1640, from the Accession of Charles I. to his Death. By F. Guizot, Author of " Histoire de la Civilization en France," &c. Translated by William Hazlitt.

The Historical Works of M. Adolphe Thiers, Member of the Academie Francaise, and late Minister of War in France. Translated by Thomas W. Redhead, Esq. Volume 1.—History of the French Revolution. Historical Notices of the Missions of the Church of England in the North American Colonies previous to the Independence of the United States; chiefly from the MS. Documents of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. By Ernest Hawkins' B.D., Fellow of Exeter College, Prebendary of St. Paul's, and Secretary to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. [The week has produced a number of historical works, which in a period of leas • pressure from " novelties " would obtain, as they require and deserve, a more elaborate consideration and a larger space than we can now bestow upon them, whatever we may be able hereafter to do. 1. The Dispatches of Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington.—This volume stares us in the face much as a reinforcement to the enemy might to a general, when their main body was scarcely out of sight, and not at all out of mind Since the two first volumes relating to India were noticed, four more volumes have accumulated, and we have been looking for a time of leisure and freedom from external hinderances' which never came, though very near it in the last autumn. "Who can control his fate?" and by parity, who can control his time? especially with space for an additional element. Until the week come when we may be able to fall back upon the reserves of Wellington, we must be content with saying that the great events of the present volume are the siege of Burgos and the subsequent retreat; the battle of Vittoria, the siege and capture of St. Sebastian, and the various contests in the Pyrenees, which ended in Soult's re- treat into France. What may be called the more disquisitionsl topics, chiefly relate to the incapacity of the three different governments with which Wellington had to deal—British, Portuguese, and Spanish, not to say the dishonesty of the latter: but towards the close of the volume, (September 18180 the affairs in Ger- many, consequent upon the failure of the Russian invasion and the'rising in. Prussia, brought the alliances against Napoleon on the tapis, and idle home schemes for removing the army from Spain, which the Duke had to combat. Of course the administrative management of the troops was ever going on, and forms the staple of the volume. 2. Gnizoes History of the English Revolution.—The second step is better than the first in " Bogue's European Library." The history of the reign of Charles the First by Gnizot is as superior to Roscoe's Life of Lorenzo De' Medici, as pro-

fotmdly critical research, letting escape it—a penetrating acumen, which piercing through the forms of things, detects the characteristic spirit of history, or more truly of national society, beyond the persons and events which body it forth—and great vivacity of mind, that at once combines the philosophic and narrative styles—are superior to extensive reading, and an amiable but some- what feeble genius, exhibiting itself in a conventional mode. Mr. Hazlitt has done a good service in translating this work; for although nearly twenty years have elapsed since its first appearance, we know of no other English trans- latien; and if the reader wants any farther guarantee of the value of the History of the English Revolution, we may say that it satisfies the somewhat hypercriti- cal demands of Carlyle upon the period. 8. Redhead's translation of Thsers's History of the French Revolution—la a fitting pendant, though an inferior piece, to Guizot's work on the English Revolu- tion of 1640; each, however they may seem to differ, being, as the last-named anther remarks, a struggle of the people against the kingly, aristocratical, and priestly powers, and the last revolution being necessary to understand the first. The present translation of the History of the Revolution is to be followed by that of the Consulate and the Empire, so as to embrace the historical productions of There ma uniform series. The work before us is in a single volume large octavo, with double columns, illustrated by a series of portraits, and striking events of the text, effective and really illustrative; but the engravers are scarcely equal to the original designers. It forms altogether a handsome volume of what is pro- bably the chef d'oeuvre of Thiess, as his biases and servilities are less displayed. 4. Historical Notices of the Missions of the Church of England in the North American Colonies.—The subjects embraced in the titlepage of this volume—a histeay of the Anglican Church in the American Colonies, from the first foundation under Raleigh to the final separation from the Mother-country--are =folded in a very scholarly way, and mainly derived for the last century, from original documents in possession of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. Some of these throw a strong light upon the manners and independent feelings of the colonists, even at an early day; and the whole will be found a very able and interesting narrative, with a bias in favour of the Bishops as a necessity in new colonies, and perhaps a leaning to High Church prin- ciples. The arrangement of the author is the most natural, and therefore the clearest and best—the colonies in distinct and separate classification: but it can- not be denied that the author's Church views have induced him to look with a somewhat .jaundiced eye on other communions, whilst his strict limitation to his own church compels him to give very scant notice of the ecclesiastical history of several provinces that were originally settled by sectarians.] The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland anterior to the Anglo-Norman Invasion; comprising an Essay on the Origin and Uses of the Round Towers of Ireland, which obtained the gold medal and prize of the Royal Irish Academy. By George Petrie, R.II.S., V.P.R.I.A. Second edition. [Though nominally a reprint, this handsome volume is substantially a new work; and one equally interesting and satisfactory to the archmologist. In 18113, Mr. Petrie gained the prize offered by the Royal Irish Academy for the best "Essay on the Origin and Uses of the Round Towers of Ireland"; and its publication at that time, we suppose, must have been considered as the first edition; for the author apologizes, in a preface dated this year, for "the length of time which has elapsed between the reading of the original essay to the Academy and the pub- lication of the present volume." This delay is not to be regretted, however, since it has enabled him to incorporate his Essay in an elaborate investigation of other ancient edifices in Ireland regarded by him as coeval with the round towers. The first part of the work consists of a refutation of the different fanciful theories which have variously assigned to the round towers a Danish and a Phce- nici.sn origin and Pagan uses. The second and principal part is devoted to a minute examination of the existing remains of ecclesiastical structures in Ireland,

to have been erected before the Norman conquest Mr. Petrie con- Ilrleindhe round towers to have been church-belfries, built strongly to serve as keeps for the safety of the priests and the church-property; and used also as beacons and watch-towers. The evidence brought forward in proof of this pro- bable solution of a vexed question appears to be conclusive; but the subject is too antiquarian for discussion in a newspaper. One striking circumstance in favonr of this view is, that round towers are never found apart from other ecclesiastical foundations; and another is, that their architectural features are precisely similar to those of the churches and other building's adjacent. These characteristics of construction and ornament, moreover, as illustrated by two hundred and fifty examples of various kinds, go far to bear out the author's argument that the round towers are traceable to a period anterior to the Norman invasion; for though the Norman style is evident in all but the earliest, the character differs from that of Anglo-Norman in some respects. A distinguishing feature of the Irish structures is the inclination inwards of the sides of doors and windows, not only in the ruder edifices of cyclopean character, but in others built of ashlar- work. And there are sufficient evidences in this volume to justify Mr. Petrie's assertion that churches of stone and lime cement were erected in Ireland as early as the first introduction of Christianity. The bee. hive-shaped dwellings of early :saints, built of unhewn stones laid horizontally in courses gradually contracting until the aperture at top is closed with a single stone—the oratories, tombs, wells, and monumental pillars, as well as the little churches with steep roofs and round towers—of which various specimens are given in the cuts, all attest the national character of these ecclesiastical antiquities of Ireland.

Nor has Mr. Petrie confined his researches to the rains themselves. He has consulted the authorities contained in ancient Irish manuscripts, and gleaned in- formation from every available source; and has pursued his inquiries in the spirit of one who seeks to ascertain the truth, not to establish a preconceived theory. In the illustrations accuracy and completeness of detail have been properly preferred to picturesque effect,—though in this latter quality the cuts are by no means dsticient; and they are executed in the best manner, with sharpness and clearness. The book is beautifully printed too, and forms a volume equally handsome and curious.

Mr. Petrie contemplates a supplementary volume on the later ecclesiastical antiquities of Ireland; but the present work is complete in itself, and possesses mere than an Irish interest] The Principles of Beauty in Colouring Systematized. By D. It. Hay, Deco- rative Painter to her Majesty, Edinburgh. [In this new analysis of the harmonies of colour, Mr. Hay has performed the use- ful service of tracing to the operation of certain fixed principles the sources of beauty in particular combinations of hues and tints; so that artists may, by the aid of this book, produce with mathematical certainty the richest effects hitherto attainable by genius alone. In painting, decoration, and costume, arrangements of colours have hitherto been regarded as resulting from individual taste or intui- tive feeling for harmony of colour: but Mr. Hay has reduced this branch of art to a perfect system, analogous to the harmonies of sound. Thus it is proved, that an offence against good taste in respect of combinations of colour is in effect a violation of natural laws; and exact knowledge enables the student not only to avoid glaring discords but to attain to recondite concords: it is the counterpoint of the pallette.

In developing his new system of chromatic harmony, Mr. Hay takes into ac- count the influence of light and shade on colour in nature; opening up a wide field for the exercise of fancy and ingenuity in contrasting colours in different degrees of intensity, yet still keeping the clue of scientific research to guide the

experimenter. The volume is of beautiful exterior, fit for the drawingroom=Ij;.. and the diagrams of colours are bound up M a separate volume, connected with the text, yet distinct from it—like two books under one cover—so that the reader can refer to the illustrations without interruption. The colours are represented by cuts of paper made expressly for the purpose; and thus unerring exactness of hue and tuat is secured in every instance; which is not attainable by plates coloured by hand.] Elinor Wyllys; a Tale. Edited by J. Fenimore Cooper, Esq., Author of " The Spy," &c. In three volumes. [The editorship of Elinor Wyllys by Mr. Cooper is bond fide to this extent—he has given " advice and assistance in presenting it to the public, though neither haa properly extended to the literary character of the work?' He has also inspected a few of the proof-sheets, but that supervision has been very slight. In fact, he has acted as literary chaperon to introduce to the public the first work of a female friend, in " whose principles, taste, and intelligence," he has great confi • deuce, and who desires to conceal her name.

Elinor Wyllys answers to the idea of it which might be inferred from this so.. count. It is a novel of private life, in which manners and feelings predominate over incident or passion. There is, of course, a love story; of which Elinor is the heroine, and Harry Hazlehurst the lover; the interest hanging upetonrdetlei.: fickleness of the swain after acceptance, and the fidelity of the she

There is also a conspiracy, perpetrated by a Yankee attorney to deprive a family of their property by personation • and the story of a young self-taught enthu- siastic artist. But the attraction of Elinor tVyllys consists in its delinea- tion of American manners and family economy, in what would be the middle class of life in England, but which seems m the States to approach the highest. This delineation is minute, and the writer is somewhat deficient in the breadth and rapidity that we are accustomed to expect in works of fiction; but the novelty and evident truth of the manners and opinions give freshness to Elinor Wyllys, and will render it worth perusal by the patient reader.] The Round Preacher ; or Reminiscences of Methodist Circuit Life.

[The Round Preacher is a series of tales or sketches, supposed to be written by a Wesleyan probationer for the ministry, descriptive of the kind of persons in the connexion his different " circuits " took him among. There is a hard matter-of- fact literalness in his descriptions, which wear an air of truth; but we suspect it must be such exceptional truth as figures in police reports or courts of law, and is by no means to be received as a general picture of the society. Otherwise, the modern Methodists would be a compound of vulgarity, hypocrisy, selfishness and sometimes of cruelty and fraud. The Missionary meeting, where a converted Red Indian and a converted Negro figure, is perhaps the most amusing, but it is evidently farcical.] Practical Sermons by Dignitaries and other Clergymen of the United Church of England and Ireland. Volume II.

[A collection of upwards of thirty sermons, by various divines, on questions of practical religion. They form the second volume of a series whose limit seems yet unfixed.] Confessions of a Water-Patient; in a Letter to W. Harrison Ainsworth, Esq., Editor of "The New Monthly Magazine." By Sir E. Bulwer Lyt- ton, Bart. [Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton has put himself under the cold water cure; and, feeling himself better, has acted upon our proverb, "Speak as you find." His ge- neral opinions and rather brilliant panegyric are of slender account, because he is scarcely competent to form a judgment upon a question which requires medical training as well as natural ability to decide upon; if it be not one of those things in which long experiment is all in all. The result upon himself is this. He had no disease immediately threatening life, but he had that species of chronic ill health which renders life a burden. After dieting and doing nothing for nine or ten weeks, at Malvern, he emerged in no very portly condition. "I was blanched and. emaciated—washed out like a thrifty housewife's gown; but neither the bleaching nor the loss of weight had in the least impaired my strength: on the contrary, all the muscles had grown as hard as iron, and I was become capable of great fatigue: my cure was not effected," (but he was subsequently finished, after a fashion, in Germany). A result, we suspect, that would follow in a similar case under any system of training, especially if the patients could be possessed with the idea of beneficial changes.] The Complete Concordance to Shakspere: being a Verbal Index to all the Passages in the Dramatic Works of the Poet. By Mrs. Cowden Clarke. Part XVIIL

r The eighteenth part completes this laborious and useful work. In fulness, and in excellence of arrangement, it sustains its high character to the close. In a preface, Mrs. Clarke explains the principles on which she has omitted direct and primary references to many words, so insignificant and so numerous "that their retention would have encumbered, and (so to say) hidden the other references to the same word of more distinct and unquestionable importance: as an example of this, my lord,' as a mere title, occurs in the play of Hamlet alone no fewer than 192 times." Space also is greatly economized by the selection: retaining "let" only in its peculiar sense, and omitting it as an auxiliary verb, is no loss to the searcher, who is much more likely to look for the passage 'Let me remember thee what thou hest promised," by the verb "remember" than by its anTiliory; but the omission saves the difference between 17 lines and 2,184. Omitting the adverb "well," except when used peculiarly, saves 1,550 lines. In the progress of the work, we have had occasion to use it many times and have observed its use by others; and we can bear testimony to the perfect fulfilment of its pretensions. Asa matter of printing, the massy volume is a marvel of compactness and distinctness.]

A Supplement to the History of British Birds. By William Yarrell,F.L.S, V.P.Z.S.

Novels and Romances of Anna Eliza Bray. In ten volumes. Volume VIII.—" Trials of the Heart."

The Jack o' Lantern (le Feu-Fo net); or the Privateer. By J. Fenimore Cooper, Esq., Author of "The Pilot," &c. (Standard Novels, No. %CIS.)

SERIALS.

Forest and Game Law Tales. By Harriet Martineau. In three volumes. Volume I.

The Life of Louis Prince of Conde, surnamed the Great. By Lord Mahon. (Colonial and Home Library. Volume XHL) Household Tales and Traditions of England, Germany, France, Scotland, 4-c. (Burns' Fireside Library.)

Twelve Nights' Entertainments; or Tales of various Lands. (Burns' Fire- side Library.)

Tales by the Baroness Fougue. (Burns' Fireside Library.) ILLUSTRATED WORK.

Alphabets, Numerals, and Devices of the Middle Ages. By Henry Shaw, F.S.A. No. XII.

[Completes this curious and varied selection of illuminated capital letters and ornamental devices of ciphers and inscriptions of medlieval character; some of them pictorially embellished, and others plain. For ornamentists who have occasion to introduce imitations of ancient lettering of particular periods, these specimens, which are all dated, must be very useful; and they will also be ac- ceptable to amateurs of Gothic ornament The taste and invention displayed in the most subordinate di-`ails are extraordinary: the quaint fashion of the style is more easilycaught than rh,. fanny of the devices.]